Always
by punklau
Summary: After outgrowing their mistakes, many years later life is sweet for AJ and Punk, until answers left unsaid are brought to surface, with much more catastrophic consequences than they could ever have thought. (AU)
1. Later

**Later**

* * *

Nine_ years later…_

"What the hell are you doing?" Punk groaned, walking into his bedroom where he saw AJ on her laptop in bed with some work out in front of her, "It's two in the morning."

"I have so much to do in the morning, I figured I'd get a head start." AJ shrugged.

"No… no, it's 2am." Punk shook his head like a child, walking around the bed, "No… none of this." He said, closing her laptop over, "None of this." He collected all of her paper work, "Take these off." He took her glasses from her.

"Phil-"

"No, we sleep at 2am. Yes?" He nodded tiredly, sitting her things over by dresser.

"You're gonna be sorry in the morning if my work didn't auto-save." She warned as he climbed over her, too tired to walk all the way back around the bed to get in, "Phil." AJ laughed, slapping his ass as he crawled over her into his side of the bed.

"No spanking tonight." Punk said sleepily, lying down on his side and pulling the covers over him as AJ watched him.

"Why are you so tired?" AJ laughed a little.

"I spent all night building Jude's dollhouse." Punk mumbled with his eyes closed.

"And that took it out of you?" AJ questioned.

"Did you see how big it is?" Punk asked.

"I'm the pregnant one here. I'm the tired one." She smiled as he nodded.

"Yeah, I'm pregnant too." Punk mumbled, not paying much attention as he was falling asleep.

"Is someone walking around up here?" AJ listened to the footsteps as AJ opened one eye, "Go check." She pushed him as Punk groaned.

Punk got out of bed, opening up the bedroom door as he walked out into the hallway, noticing the bathroom door was closed. He then saw Thea's room door was opened and nodded to himself.

He stumbled back into bed, his eyes nipping, "Thea's in the toilet." Punk said, collapsing back into bed as AJ nodded.

"She got her first period." AJ told him as Punk looked at her.

"Why are you telling me that?" Punk questioned.

"Well just so you know. It's good to be aware." AJ said as Punk shook his head.

"Isn't she too young?" Punk questioned with confusion.

"She's thirteen." AJ shook her head, "I got mine when I was twelve." She shrugged as Punk shook his head.

"I still didn't need to know." Punk said.

"You did. What if there's an emergency and I'm not around?" AJ questioned as Punk grumbled, folding up his pillow and lying on his stomach.

"Ok, time for sleep." Punk hushed her, taking her hand and shaking it, "Sleep time." He hummed.

"Say goodnight to the baby." AJ ordered as Punk nodded, shuffling over, pushing the covers back and kissing her stomach, "Goodnight, baby." He said sweetly as AJ smiled. He then leaned up and kissed AJ, "Goodnight my other baby." He said as AJ smiled, kissing him back softly, scratching under his stubbly beard sweetly before he collapsed back onto his pillow.

She smiled, watching him very quickly fall asleep as she played with his hair. She then got up out of bed, wandering around and leaving the room just as Thea was leaving the bathroom.

"Hey." AJ smiled as Thea looked over at her tiredly, "You ok?"

"Yeah." Thea nodded.

"You want a hot water bottle?" AJ asked her as Thea raised a brow.

"What for?" Thea questioned.

"Your stomach. Might help." AJ nodded as Thea shrugged.

"I guess." Thea nodded.

"I'll go down and make you one up." AJ said as Thea nodded, wandering back into her bedroom whilst AJ headed downstairs.

It was sometimes surreal to think that her baby girl wasn't so much a baby at all anymore. She was in her teens. At high school. That little baby she welcomed into the world on her very own thirteen years ago. It was crazy to see how far they had really come.

She walked into the kitchen and grabbed a water bottle out to fill up. She could never have pictured how amazing the past nine years had been. The amazing memories and moments they'd created. The celebrations, the vacations, growing as a family and as individuals. It was incredible, and such a far cry from where they were when they first started dating. They'd created such a beautiful life on their own, working hard at it every day.

AJ got herself a snack and Thea's hot water bottle before heading back upstairs, walking into her daughter's room where she was sitting up in her bed playing on her phone.

"Hey, why would you possibly need to use that at this time?" AJ questioned, walking into the bedroom.

"I'm playing a game, mom." Thea rolled her eyes.

"Oh." AJ shrugged, "Well here." She said, "This will help if your stomach is sore." She passed the water bottle over.

"Thanks." Thea nodded as AJ smiled.

"You can have the day off school tomorrow if you like." AJ nodded.

"Really?" Thea asked.

"Well if you're in any pain." AJ shrugged, sitting down on a bean bag which was in Thea's room.

They were still very laid back parents and it definitely showed, especially now that their daughter was older. Being young parents was proving to be a little difficult as Thea got older. They found it tough being a strict figure in her life. But they'd accepted that parenthood was a constant learning curve for them.

"Jude will start crying and pretend she's sick so she can stay off too." Thea rolled her eyes.

"Then maybe she can." AJ shrugged, "I'm off tomorrow so maybe we could go see a movie? Just us girls." AJ smiled.

"I should probably just go to school." Thea shrugged as AJ nodded slowly.

"Yeah. Yeah, of course." AJ nodded, "Do you want some of this?" AJ asked as Thea looked at the sandwich and shook her head.

"No thanks." Thea laughed a little, "Why'd you make it?" She asked, noticing her mother had barely touched the sandwich.

"Thought I was hungry but now… now I think I might throw up." AJ admitted.

"Why does the baby keep making you throw up?" Thea questioned.

"Oh, I don't know." AJ shook her head, "It's normally just for the first few weeks." She nodded, "You best get back to sleep." She said as Thea nodded.

Their daughter had grown into such a beautiful, smart and kind girl. She very much knew who she was and was sure of herself. She had such positive energy and beat to the rhythm of her own drum. She was definitely AJ's image. Dark hair and eyes, thin boned with a sweet smile.

"Don't be on that phone, missy." AJ stood up from the bean bag.

"I'm not." Thea defended.

Parenting a teen was much more difficult than parenting a smaller child, so they were discovering. Whilst they were trying to give Thea the freedom to explore new things, be her own person, discover who she was, it was also important they lead an example and set some sort of rules.

"Ok, goodnight, sweetie." AJ smiled.

"Night, mom." Thea nodded, lying back down in her bed as AJ left the room.

She walked back into her own bedroom, pausing at the door when she saw Punk sprawled across their bed, snoring loudly with his leg hanging off the edge of the bed.

"My husband." AJ nodded sarcastically before getting into bed beside him.

They'd gotten married a few years ago, in a quiet but intimate ceremony filled with friends and family. It was a beautiful day and night that neither of them would ever forget. They always knew this was forever, but making it official just made it all the more sweeter.

* * *

"Hey, Jude. Don't make it bad." Punk hummed, sprawling open his youngest daughter's drapes.

"Daddy, no." Jude complained as she heard her father singing, lying in her bed, burying her face back into her pillow.

"Jude, yes." Punk said, "Gotta get up for school." He said, walking over to her bed, "Come on. Come on." He said, kissing her cheek repeatedly, annoying her with kisses.

"No, stop." Jude moaned with agitation.

"Yes." Punk said, shaking her lightly, doing everything he could to annoy her. The one thing he knew for sure, was that Jude was not a morning person at all.

"I'm up." Jude nodded, her eyes still closed as Punk scoffed.

"No you're not." Punk said, "Come on." He shook her as Jude pushed him away, opening her eyes as he looked at her, sticking his tongue out at her as she kicked her foot at him, "Up." Punk nodded, pulling the covers back from her as she lay and groaned.

"Fine." Jude said, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

Jude was just five years old. She was pretty much a miniature AJ, but with Punk's soul living inside of her. She was lazy, unbothered, laid back and very much free-spirited.

"Ok, into the bathroom. I'll lay your clothes out for you." Punk told her as Jude nodded, wandering away out of her bedroom tiredly whilst Punk looked some clothes out for her.

She was a surprise baby they weren't planning for, but were found full of love when she arrived.

Punk headed downstairs where he found AJ in the kitchen with his eldest daughter who was having breakfast.

"Morning all." Punk said, "Morning." He messed with Thea's hair as she rolled her eyes, "Nice jersey." He nodded to Thea who was wearing a cubs jersey with some jorts.

"Go cubbies." Thea threw up a rock and roll sign.

"Hell yeah." Punk nodded as AJ smiled.

Although their daughters were her look-alikes in their own ways, they were definitely mini Punkers, and she would have had it no other way. She loved the bond Punk had with the girls.

"We got lunches packed?" Punk asked, pouring himself a coffee.

"Yeah, all done." AJ nodded, "Is Jude up?" She asked.

"Yeah, she's up." Punk nodded as AJ stood up, walking over and placing her empty mug over, "Morning." He smiled, giving her a kiss as she kissed back.

"Hey." AJ smiled, "When you finish today?" She asked him.

"Five." Punk said.

"Yeah, me too." AJ nodded, "I have a meeting." She frowned, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Can't you snooze during it?" Punk asked her.

"I'm taking the meeting." AJ rephrased as Punk nodded.

"Well… probably best not to snooze then." He said as she smiled, "That baby is making you tired and sick… I don't know about this." He shook his head, "We'll need to have words." He said as AJ smiled.

She was just three months pregnant. They'd not long found out. She barely had a bump and they were still getting used to the news that they were having another baby.

"Is Jude definitely awake?" AJ wondered.

"Yeah, she went to the bathroom and I got her clothes out." Punk nodded.

"Doesn't sound like much movement." AJ said.

"I'll go check." Punk said, "Can you keep an eye on the toast?" He asked her as she nodded.

Punk headed back upstairs, walking on into Jude's room and folding his arms as he saw she had made her way back into bed and was fast asleep.

"Unbelievable." He shook his head with a smile.

* * *

**A/N: Just a little starter. More to come!**


	2. Hey Jude

**Hey Jude**

* * *

"Jude, stop falling asleep." Punk said, watching in the rear view mirror whilst driving the girls to school, noticing Jude was asleep again.

"What is wrong with you?" Thea asked her little sister, "Why are you always sleeping?" She questioned as Jude looked at her and decided she couldn't be bothered answering.

"Uncle Dean is picking you up today." Punk reminded them.

"He is?!" Jude suddenly woke up with excitement.

"Yeah." Punk nodded.

"Why?" Thea asked.

"Mom and I have the hospital appointment for the baby, and then we're gonna go out after it." He told them.

"Why are you going out after it?" Thea questioned, "Why don't you just come straight back?" She asked.

"Because we haven't been out in a long time." Punk chuckled, "We need a break from you two sometimes." He said as Jude gasped.

"Hey." Jude said.

"Not you, Jude. Just Thea." Punk corrected as Thea raised her eyebrows.

"Excuse you." Thea said as Punk smiled.

"We won't be late." Punk assured them, "We're just gonna go for dinner." He told them.

"What about our dinner, daddy?" Jude asked worriedly.

"I'm sure Dean will be good enough to feed you both." Punk nodded.

"He'll just order us a pizza like always." Thea said.

"You like pizza." Punk said.

"Not all the time." Thea shook her head, "I think I'm gonna be a vegan." Thea said as Jude turned to her, "What?" Thea made a face to her sister.

"No you're not." Punk said simply.

"I want to." Thea said, "I will." She vowed.

"Your favourite thing is burgers." Punk scoffed.

"But I want to save the animals." Thea nodded, "Do you know they get slaughtered and they get kept in cages before they're killed?" She questioned as Jude looked at her.

"I did know." Punk said, "I also know they taste delicious and you aren't gonna stop eating animals." He scoffed.

"Don't challenge me." Thea said defensively, "I'm going to do it. From now on, I'm a vegan." She smiled.

"Mom made you ham sandwiches for lunch." Punk scoffed as Thea groaned.

"Well… after lunch, I'm a vegan." She said.

"Daddy, Thea is scaring me." Jude said as Punk chuckled to himself.

"Shut up." Thea scoffed.

"You shut up." Jude replied calmly as Punk raised a brow. They certainly weren't the friendliest of sisters, he was sure it was because of the pretty big age gap.

"Ok, first stop, Jude. Let's go." Punk said, pulling up outside Jude's school, getting out of the car.

"Have a good day, idiot." Thea told her sister as Jude ignored her and jumped out of the car with Punk's help.

"Daddy I don't think she'll never eat a cheeseburger again." Jude looked up at Punk who chuckled.

"Yeah, she's too weak for that." Punk agreed, "You have a good day, babe. Ok?" He crouched down as she nodded, "No falling asleep in class." He said, kissing her cheek.

"I can't promise anything." Jude told him truthfully before running off, "Bye!" She exclaimed, her little backpack moving side to side on her as she ran off into her class, causing Punk to chuckle.

He got back in the car and drove further ahead to drop Thea off at her school.

"You can drop me off here." Thea said.

"What? You're miles away." Punk said, "I'll drop you at the usual bit." He said as Thea rolled her eyes, "You really wanna be a vegan? You know much that's gonna cost us? We're gonna have to make you a separate dinner every night." He said.

"Then maybe we should all be vegans." Thea nodded.

"No." Punk said simply, "You wanna tell your pregnant mom that we're not eating meat anymore? Be my guest." He said.

"It might be good for my soccer. Might give me more energy, I could lose some weight-"

"Thea, you have no weight to lose." Punk informed her, "Don't start." He advised.

"But it could be good for my soccer." Thea said.

"You eat what you want, kid." Punk nodded, pulling up outside the school, "Ok…"

"You don't have to get out of the car." Thea rolled her eyes, getting out of the car as Punk walked around.

"Have a good day." Punk smiled, giving her a hug as she groaned, "Please hug me back, I don't wanna be unloved." He said as she rolled her eyes and hugged him back. Sometimes he just did it to tease her.

"Ok ok." Thea broke free of the hug.

"Remember it's Dean you're looking for at the end of the day." Punk told her.

"Ok." Thea said, barely listening as she walked away, finding her friends as Punk watched.

He couldn't believe his baby was at high school. Time seemed to have flown by. He still remembered her as a little baby, when they lived in their rundown, one bedroom apartment. Seeing her with her friends, maturing and growing, it was tough.

* * *

"Why does she want to be a vegan?" AJ questioned, sitting in the hospital waiting room with Punk later that day after they had finished work.

"I don't know, to save the animals." Punk shook his head.

"Her favourite food is cheeseburgers." AJ said with confusion.

"Yeah, I know." Punk said, "And then she said it would help with her soccer, and if she needed to lose weight-"

"Lose weight?" AJ asked with confusion as Punk nodded, "That girl, I swear…" AJ scolded.

Transitioning from parenting a child to parenting a teen was proving to be quite difficult. They were faced with new challenges, different challenges. Sometimes it did help that they were both young, because it felt like not too long ago, they were teenagers.

"So Dean has the pleasure of finding her a vegan dinner." Punk said.

"You know Dean won't do that." AJ chuckled, "How was Jude?"

"Fell asleep on the way to school, in the car." Punk nodded as AJ shook her head.

"Do you think we should take her to the doctors?" AJ wondered.

"What? Why?" Punk asked her.

"Well she does always sleep." AJ said, "Maybe she's not sleeping properly at night and that's why she's always tired. There's sleep clinics out there, we could take her." AJ nodded.

"No, she's just lazy." Punk chuckled as AJ nodded, knowing it was probably true.

"I know I just worry about her. She fell asleep in class last week." AJ said.

"I think she does it because she doesn't wanna listen." Punk said truthfully, "I know my daughter. She's got a plan." He nodded.

"We still gotta keep an eye on her." AJ said, "She should be a ball of energy."

"She is. She's crazy." Punk said, "She just… really likes napping too. She's literally me. It's great." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, I suppose. You do like your naps." She nodded as he smiled.

"How was your meeting?" Punk asked her.

"Boring." AJ nodded, "You know when you can just tell nobody is listening to you?" AJ questioned, "Well it was like that." She said as he placed his hand on her leg.

"Well hey, work brain off. We're seeing our baby and then I'm taking you out for a nice dinner." He nodded as AJ smiled.

"The best husband." AJ smiled, leaning over and kissing his cheek.

"Hey, do you think this baby could be a boy? Helps me out a little." Punk nodded as AJ chuckled a little.

"I don't decide those things I'm afraid." AJ said, "It'd be nice to have a boy, though." She nodded.

"Phillip Junior." Punk nodded.

"Well… not with that name." AJ made clear.

"Hey, you know we still haven't gotten Thea's name changed yet." Punk remembered.

"I don't think she wants to change it." AJ shrugged, "I mean it's on all of her school records, on her register, any soccer medals she has it's Mendez that's on it." She said, "Doesn't make her any less your daughter."

"I know but… the rest of us are all Brooks. Even you." He smirked.

"It's not a big deal." AJ laughed a little.

"April Mendez." AJ's nurse called for her as Punk turned to AJ.

"Mendez?" Punk questioned as AJ stood up, ignoring him, "Mendez?" Punk followed her like a lost child, wanting some answers as AJ hurried away from him into the hospital room.

* * *

"Dean can you make me a vegan dinner?" Thea asked, walking into her Uncle's house after he picked her and Jude up from school.

"I'm making meatballs." Dean told her as Thea rolled her eyes, "Since when did you become a vegan?"

"Since today." Jude answered for her, sipping on her juice box as Thea pushed her over.

"What do vegans even eat? Nuts?" Dean asked Thea who looked up at him, "I got some nuts in actually." He said, "I can sprinkle them over the meatballs for you?"

"Shut up." Thea shoved her way by him as Dean chuckled, turning to Jude who was taking her converse off.

"Hey Jude, you ok?" Dean asked.

"Yes." Jude answered, "Where is Chrissy? Can I play with her?" She asked.

"Yeah, she'll be in the kitchen with Renee." Dean nodded as Jude gave him her backpack before running off to the kitchen.

Not only had AJ and Punk expanded on their family, but so had Dean and Renee. They had a six year old daughter, Chrissy, born just before Jude. They were best friends, always playing together whenever they were at each other's house. Dean and Renee had also moved into a house of their own, and were doing well in their respected jobs.

"Do we got any vegan type food?" Dean asked Renee who was sitting at the table with Chrissy and Jude, meanwhile Thea was in the fridge helping herself to a drink. They were very familiar with their uncle's house, it was like their second home.

"Vegan food?" Renee questioned, "We're doing meatballs." She said with confusion.

"Thea is a vegan now." Dean nodded as Renee turned to Thea.

"Since when?" Renee asked.

"Since today." Jude answered again, squeezing herself up beside Chrissy who was playing on her Nintendo switch.

"I tried being a vegan once." Renee nodded.

"You did?" Thea asked.

"Yeah. I lasted a couple days." Renee said, "Finding things to eat is the hardest part." She nodded.

"I could go grate some grass out the back garden if you like?" Dean asked her as Thea glared at him, "What? It's organic." Dean nodded.

"Don't listen to him." Renee said, "If you wanna be a vegan, you be a vegan." Renee nodded, "But can it wait until tomorrow? We only have meatballs out." She said as Thea huffed and nodded.

"I guess." Thea nodded, "I'm gonna watch TV." She told them.

"What about homework?" Dean asked her.

"I done it at lunch." Thea said.

"How lame are you?" Dean scoffed as Thea stood on his foot on the way out of the kitchen, "Hey, Jude… you stay awake at school today?" He teased.

"Dean." Renee scoffed.

"Daddy says if you make sleepy jokes at me or sing Hey Jude, I have to kick you." Jude looked across at him as Dean scoffed.

"My daddy can't sing." Chrissy turned to her cousin.

"Excuse me, I can to sing." Dean said as Renee looked over at him.

"Debatable." Renee nodded.

"You can't sing." Chrissy shook her head. She was a lot like Dean. She had blonde hair, small like Jude, and had her father's eccentric personality about her, with the kindness of Renee shining through.

"I can." Dean fought back, "Na na na na na na…" Dean sung, "Na na na na, hey Jude."

"No!" Jude yelled, jumping off the chair and running after Dean as he ran away from her, scared of course whilst Renee and Chrissy chuckled.

* * *

"Dean just sent me this." Punk said, later that night, out for dinner with AJ, showing her his phone as she took it, "First dinner as a vegan, meatballs." Punk read the caption as AJ looked at the picture of Thea eating her dinner.

"You guys are so mean to her." AJ chuckled.

"He also said Jude beat him up for singing." Punk nodded, taking the phone back from her.

"As she should." AJ nodded, "This pasta is so good." AJ shook her head, "Try." She said, getting a forkful and extending the fork over to him as he tried.

"Damn, that is good." Punk said as she nodded. He smiled, looking across at her. Having been together since they were kids, really made growing together so much more special. Seeing each other grow as individuals, as parents, as wife and husband. It was something he held close to his heart. It felt like just a few years ago, they were sharing a pizza slice, sitting in a motel room they could barely afford. To build this life together was beautiful.

"I wanna look at the picture again." AJ smiled, grabbing her purse up and taking out the sonogram picture of the baby.

"Let me see." Punk smiled as she extended the picture over to him, "Like a little peanut." He nodded.

"I can't believe we're having another kid." AJ shook her head.

"I think it's a good time." Punk nodded as she smiled, taking the picture back from him, "You know this is my favourite time of any day." He told her.

"Dinner? Me too." AJ nodded as Punk laughed a little.

"Well… actually, what I was gonna say was when I get to sit down and we get to talk." Punk nodded as AJ raised her eyebrows and smiled.

"Yeah, me too." AJ smiled sweetly. Sometimes she couldn't believe they had actually gotten out of the mess they used to be in when they were teens. Everything felt so difficult back then, and now, life was sweet.


	3. Grown

**Grown**

* * *

"Hey, what are you two doing in here?" AJ asked, walking into the living room later on after they had picked Thea and Jude up from Dean's. AJ heard laughing and music coming from the living room, walking in where she saw the girls using her laptop, watching a video, "What's that?"

"It's a dog dancing to shake that ass." Thea pointed, "By Eminem." She showed her mother as AJ sat on the end of the couch and watched.

"I want a dancing dog!" Jude exclaimed, "Like that one." She pointed as AJ laughed a little as she watched the video.

"You guys would never take care of a dog." AJ scoffed.

"Yes. Yes we would." Jude defended.

"I'm getting you both a baby brother or sister." AJ said, "That's so much better."

"We never asked for that." Thea looked at her other.

"Well you're getting it." AJ said, "Enough of the silly videos. You're not supposed to be on my work computer." She said, "It's almost time for bed."

"Not time for my bed." Thea scoffed.

"Or mine." Jude agreed.

"Yes yours." AJ nodded to Jude, "Daddy has gone to run your bath, why don't you go upstairs and get him." She said as Jude huffed.

"Fine." Jude said, jumping off the couch and leaving the living room, running upstairs to find her father whilst AJ sat down beside Thea to watch more funny videos.

Jude ran into her father's bedroom, noticing he was lying on top of the bed sleeping. She giggled and skipped around the room, finding AJ's make-up bag as she got some eye-liner out.

She climbed onto the bed, kneeling beside Punk as she opened up the eye-liner. She couldn't exactly draw a moustache on her father, because he already had a real one, so she drew some lovely stars on his cheeks instead, hiding the evidence before waking him up for him to take her for her bath.

* * *

"Hey, you want some coffee?" Punk asked, walking into the kitchen later on after putting Jude to bed as AJ looked at him, a puzzled look coming over her as she stared at his face.

"Uh…" AJ shook her head with confusion.

"Where is Thea?" Punk asked, starting to make some coffee as AJ turned around and stared at him, "What?" Punk noticed her staring.

"You… you've got a little…" She pointed to her cheek.

"Water? Jude was splashing me." Punk nodded.

"No. Not water." AJ shook her head as Thea walked into the kitchen.

"What the hell, dad?" Thea shook her head as she noticed her father's face.

"What?" Punk looked at them both with confusion.

"Here." AJ turned her phone on, getting the front camera up as she passed it to him as he looked at his face, looking at the stars on his cheeks and forehead.

"That little…" Punk shook his head, "She must have drew on me when I was sleeping." He said.

"You should make those your next tattoos." Thea nodded.

"Why aren't you in bed?" Punk asked her, giving AJ her phone back.

"It's 8pm." Thea scoffed, opening up one of the cupboards and taking out a cookie from the packet.

"Is that vegan free?" Punk challenged as Thea turned to him.

"Yeah, I don't think I'm gonna be a vegan." Thea shook her head.

"Oh, really?" Punk nodded, "Interesting." He said.

"What changed your mind?" AJ asked her.

"I really like cheeseburgers." Thea said as AJ nodded.

"Hey, we need to talk about your name." Punk said, leaning over the kitchen sink, washing off the eyeliner which Jude had used as a crayon on him.

"My name?" Thea questioned, eating her cookie.

"Yeah. Changing it to Brooks." Punk said, drying his face with a towel as Thea looked at him.

"What if I don't want to change it?" Thea asked.

"I just thought you'd wanna be the same as your sister, and your future brother or sister." He said as Thea shrugged.

"Everything in my school is Mendez, though." Thea huffed.

"You don't have to change it." AJ assured him.

"Why didn't you name me Brooks in the first place anyway?" Thea raised a brow as AJ and Punk stayed silent, "What?" Thea laughed, "You two normally don't have nothing to say."

"Well I wasn't really around when you were born, so it was mom who named you." Punk said. She was old enough to know that much.

"Why weren't you around?" Thea asked as AJ looked up at Punk.

"He was, it was just a little while." AJ waved her hand, "It's not a big deal. You go watch your programs." She nodded as Thea looked at them suspiciously before leaving the kitchen, "You see." AJ turned to Punk.

"What?" Punk shook his head.

"Don't give her more reasons to ask questions." AJ said, "I told you the name thing isn't a big deal."

"Well obviously, because you never changed yours either." Punk said.

"It's not because I love you any less, Phil. It's easier. People know me as April Mendez. Whether it's good or bad things. In work, that's my name. And the same goes for Thea. You're still her dad and you're still my husband." She nodded, standing up as he sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, I know… I know, I'm making a bigger deal about it than it needs to be." Punk nodded, "And now she's asking questions."

"She's gonna ask those questions sooner than we think." AJ nodded.

"Yeah and I really don't wanna answer them." Punk admitted.

"Me neither." AJ agreed, "She's still our baby." She shook her head as Punk nodded.

"You know when it really hits me? That she's actually growing up?" He asked.

"When?" AJ asked.

"When I drop her off at school, and I see her meet her friends. She's not a little kid running off to go play." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah but she's still my baby." AJ shook her head as Punk smiled.

"Yeah, I know." Punk said, "I can't believe Jude drew on me and managed to keep a straight face whilst she had her bath and went to bed. She's evil." He shook his head as AJ smiled.

"She just likes teasing you." AJ nodded, "I'm more concerned she was raiding through my things to find my make-up." She said.

"Clearly she knew what she was looking for." Punk said.

"At least it wasn't a sharpie. You'd be in big trouble then." AJ chuckled as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, that wouldn't be good." Punk said, pouring himself and AJ some coffee.

"I think Jude and Thea want a dog." AJ nodded, sitting back down at the kitchen table where she was doing some paper work.

"A dog?" Punk questioned, "And who'd be the ones looking after it? Me and you." Punk nodded.

"That's what I said." AJ said, "I would love to have one but… we both work so much and the girls are at school. It wouldn't be fair." She said, "And with the baby coming, the chaos that will bring."

"Well maybe in a couple years." Punk nodded, "What you working on?" He asked her.

"I have a column due in for tomorrow morning that I have yet to finish. And I got so distracted earlier watching stupid videos online with Thea that I wasted two hours." She said as Punk laughed a little.

She worked as an editor, pretty high up, for a fashion magazine. She started off as a secretary, pouring coffee, passing on phone calls and filing folders. She worked her way up over the years, securing an extremely well paid job that she was actually passionate about.

"You close to finishing?" He asked her.

"Not really." AJ sighed, "I could be here for a while." She admitted.

"I worry about you, when you're stressed like this… especially with the baby." He said.

"No, I'm ok." AJ assured him, "It's my own fault, I should have done it sooner." She said, "It's just so hard to find the time." She shook her head as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, I know." Punk nodded.

Although life was sweet, and they were getting by well, things still got tough, things still became stressful whether it was parenting or their jobs. Nothing was ever truly perfect, but that was life.

"I just gotta focus." AJ nodded, "Few sips of coffee and I'll be good." She said.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Punk asked her as she smiled, scratching the back of his neck sweetly as she shook her head.

"No, I'm good." AJ smiled, looking up at him.

He'd changed his looks over the years, many times. He'd gone from the long blonde haired little Punk she met when she was sixteen, to having his hair cut and slicked back, really bringing out his dirt bag good looks whilst supporting a stubbly beard and moustache. He definitely wasn't bad to look at, that was for sure.

"I'll go make sure Thea gets to bed." Punk told her, leaving the kitchen to let his wife get her work done, walking into the living room where Thea was lying up on the couch with her blanket, watching a TV program, "Hey, kid… I think it's time for you to hit the hay." He told her.

"I'm tired anyway." Thea said, shaking the blanket from her, "My bed covers still haven't been put back on yet."

"Ok, I'll come up and fix them." Punk said, "Go say goodnight to mom." He told her, sitting his coffee down and heading upstairs.

He walked into Thea's bedroom, which had changed many times over the years, from unicorns, to pink everything, to posters of her favourite things. Another thing that made him feel old.

He made up Thea's bed whilst the teen took her pj's into the bathroom to get changed. AJ had stripped her bed to wash so he had to put on clean ones for her.

"You should really start learning how to do this yourself." Punk advised, shaking the duvet cover onto the duvet whilst Thea came back into the room and watched.

"I do know how to do it, I just want someone else to do it for me." Thea said simply.

"Yeah, don't I know." Punk scoffed, pulling the duvet over the bed and tucking it in, next putting the pillows in the pillows cases, sitting them at the top of the bed, "Ok, all good." He told her as Thea got into bed, "Oh, no… wait." He noticed something on the floor, "Can't forget Harold." He said, passing her over the childhood teddy bear she loved so dearly.

"Dad, I don't need him to sleep." Thea scoffed, taking the bear and throwing him over to her dresser as Punk raised his eyebrows, "Goodnight, turn my light off on the way out." She hummed, getting comfy in bed as Punk gulped, looking over at the bear in the corner of the room.

"Goodnight, sweetie." Punk nodded, leaving the room and turning the light off.

He made his way downstairs slowly, walking back into the kitchen where AJ was still working.

"Hey did you get her covers back on? I totally forgot I even stripped her bed this morning." AJ said, looking up and noticing he had a funny look on his face, "What's wrong?" She questioned.

"She threw Harold away." Punk said as AJ looked across at him, "She just threw him away." Punk shook his head as AJ frowned.

"You look like you need a hug." AJ nodded as Punk sat down beside her and groaned whilst she rubbed his back.

Meanwhile upstairs, Thea had waited for her father to disappear before quickly getting out of bed, running over and grabbing Harold to take back into bed with her.


	4. Back

**Back**

* * *

"Girls! Come on, let's go." Punk called from the bottom of the stairs.

"They're not ready?" AJ questioned, just getting home from work as she dumped her bags down at the doorway.

"Of course they're not ready." Punk shook his head, "I'm not buying either of you a hot dog if you don't shift your butts!" He called, suddenly hearing running around, watching as Jude appeared and began coming down the stairs.

"No, you have to buy me a hot dog." She hurried, holding her converse as she ran quickly.

"Thea! Come on." Punk called.

"In a minute!" Thea yelled back as Punk groaned, turning to AJ who was helping Jude put her converse on.

"You sure you don't wanna come?" Punk asked AJ.

"No, you go have fun with the girls." AJ smiled to him, "I have some work to do and then I think I'll take a bath." She nodded.

"Ok." Punk nodded, looking at Jude who was wearing her Hawks hoodie and cap, "You good to go, kid?" He asked her as Jude nodded, "You been to the toilet?" He asked as Jude shook her head.

"No, I'll go." Jude said, climbing back upstairs as Punk turned to AJ who smiled.

"You told me game night is your favourite night." AJ said, "This seems stressful."

"The older they get, the longer they take." Punk shook his head as AJ nodded.

"That's girls for you, baby." AJ smiled, "You couldn't bring me home some dinner, could you?" She asked, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Anything for my baby." Punk nodded as she smiled, "My babies." He corrected as she smiled.

"The sandwich shop just outside United." AJ nodded, "Just my usual." She said.

"No problem." Punk said.

"And you'll get the girls a hot dog or something, right?" AJ nodded.

"Yeah, sure." Punk nodded.

"You meeting Dean there?" AJ asked.

"Yeah, he's bringing Chrissy." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"Girls night." AJ teased as Punk nodded.

Whenever there was a Cubs or a Blackhawks game, Punk always took the girls with him. It was their thing and AJ didn't like to intrude. It was the night out of the week where she got the house to herself which was always nice from time to time.

Punk used to dream about being able to afford tickets to the games, and being able to do it now, and take his children with him, it was pretty special.

"Ok, I peed." Jude announced, running back down the stairs.

"Ok, good." Punk said, "Thea!" Punk called again.

"Alright alright." Thea eventually came downstairs, wearing her jersey and some jeans, "I'm here." She said.

"Only took you five years." Punk said as Thea made a face at him.

"Have fun, babies." AJ smiled, kissing Jude and Thea on the cheek, "You hold daddy's hand." AJ told Jude who immediately grabbed Punk's hand and smiled.

"She means at the game." Thea looked down at her sister who like most times, ignored her.

"Ok, I'll see you when we get home." Punk nodded, leaning over and kissing his wife, "Ok, let's go." He told the girls, leaving the house as AJ smiled.

* * *

"Hot dog. Hot dog. Hot dog." Punk passed along the three hot dogs for his two daughters and niece, sitting back down on his seat at the game beside Dean.

"And mine?" Dean asked as Punk grabbed the remaining hot dog from his pocket, "Great. Nice and squashed." Dean nodded.

"Get it yourself next time." Punk scoffed, turning around where he saw Thea helping Jude and Chrissy open up their hot dogs. She was sweet and kind when she wanted to be. He then watched as Thea took out her phone and began texting, "Dean." Punk tapped his brother.

"What?" Dean turned to him.

"What's with the phones?" Punk asked.

"Huh?" Dean shook his head.

"Well we got Thea a phone but, we thought it was good for safety reasons. She could text us if she was out with a friend or something. But she's always on it." Punk said, turning back and watching Thea, "What the hell is she doing on it?"

"Texting boys." Dean said as Punk turned to him, "It's a possibility."

"She's thirteen." Punk tutted.

"What's your point?" Dean laughed.

"What does she know about boys?" Punk scoffed, "She's a kid."

"She's at high school." Dean corrected, "Things happen at high school. Thing back to when we were thirteen."

"I wasn't texting girls." Punk scoffed, "No no… I wasn't texting." Punk corrected himself, "Watch this." He told his brother, "Thea." Punk called as Thea looked up.

"What?" Thea looked over at him.

"What you doing on the phone?" Punk asked her.

"Playing a game." Thea shrugged as Punk turned to Dean.

"She always says that." Punk whispered to Dean who shrugged.

"Maybe she is playing a game." Dean said, "Why are you freaking out about this?" Dean laughed.

"I'm not." Punk defended, "Maybe… maybe we just take the phone from her. I mean… does she really need it?"

"Then you're showing her you don't trust her." Dean said, "And like you said, it's good for safety, you can check in with her." Dean nodded, "She's a good kid, man. Why you getting all paranoid?" Dean questioned.

"It's just strange. She's always been my little girl, you know? For like a long time. She was my little girl when I was still a teenager." He said as Dean nodded.

"They do have to grow up, I'm afraid." Dean said as Punk sighed, turning around and watching Thea playing on her phone, turning to Jude who had ketchup dripping down her hoodie, meanwhile Chrissy was dissecting her hot dog, only eating the bread.

"Chrissy not a fan of hot dogs?" Punk questioned as Dean looked over.

"No she is, she just eats things individually." Dean nodded, "How is April doing?" He asked.

"She's good. Pretty stressed at work which concerns me, especially with her being pregnant. But I guess she keeps things under control." Punk nodded.

"You hoping for a boy?" Dean asked.

"It'd be nice." Punk nodded, "Different."

"Daddy, I need the toilet." Jude piped up as Punk turned around.

"You just went." Punk said.

"I think I need again." Jude said, giving her sister her half-eaten hot dog, taking her father's hand as Punk nodded.

Although sometimes, he barely got to watch the game himself, he knew the girls enjoyed it and it had become their special thing. It also meant he got to hang out with his brother for a couple of hours.

* * *

Meanwhile back at home, AJ had spent the night working in the kitchen. She never thought she would turn into one of those independent women whose work drive really took over them, but she wasn't mad about it. She worked hard to get the job she was in, and she worked hard making her way through the different positions.

She also wanted to show her girls that anything was possible. That you can go from being homeless with absolutely no money, to having everything you want. As long as you work hard enough.

She finished up her work in the kitchen and headed upstairs to run herself a bath and light some candles. She felt bad saying it, but having the house to herself for a night was glorious.

Whilst waiting on her bath to run, she tidied up the girls bedrooms. Jude had toys everywhere whilst Thea had clothes everywhere.

Whilst tidying the rooms up, she heard a knock at the door and chose to ignore it. It wasn't until the person knocked again where she headed into the bathroom to turn the faucet off and head downstairs.

She got to the bottom of the stairs, unlocking the door and opening it up, taken back by who was standing on her door step.

"Oh my God." AJ raised her eyebrows.

* * *

"Why couldn't I get a sandwich?" Jude questioned, walking home with Punk and her sister.

"You had a hot dog." Punk said, "This is for mommy." He told her.

"Oh." Jude nodded, holding his hand whilst Thea walked ahead.

The game had finished and they were headed home. The streets were busy with fans spilling out into different pubs and bars. Dean headed the opposite direction with Chrissy. They still lived in the seedy part of town. Nothing as bad as their first apartment, but still in a hard-going area.

"Maybe mommy will let you have a bite of her sandwich." Punk nodded to Jude who smiled with wonder, "She'll also need to get that ketchup out of your hoodie." He said.

"I don't know how that happened." Jude hummed as Punk nodded and smiled.

They were passing by a busy bar, dodging their way around the smokers when Punk heard his name being called, groaning to himself.

"Brooks? Brooks, is that you?"

Punk turned around, noticing it was one of the guys from quote on quote, back in the day. One whom he used to work with in his not so legitimate job.

"Mark." Punk nodded, "Hey, buddy." Punk nodded politely.

"How you doing? Man, it's been so long." Mark nodded, cigarette in his mouth and drink in his hand.

"It has." Punk agreed, "I'm doing good. What about you?" He asked.

"Not too bad. Not too bad." Mark smiled, "What's this? School day out?" Mark laughed a little, "Are these your girls?"

"Yeah." Punk nodded, still holding Jude's hand whilst Thea stood beside.

"Even this one?" Mark pointed to Thea.

"Yeah." Punk nodded.

"So you're still with April?" Mark asked.

"Yeah. Married and everything." Punk nodded.

"No way." Mark chuckled, "You two… you two were big names back in the day." He nodded, "How's your brother doing?"

"He's good." Punk nodded, "Married with a kid." He said.

"Damn, you lot grew up." Mark laughed a little, "You at the game?"

"Yeah, we're just on our way home." Punk nodded.

"Well hey, man. It'd be good to see more of you. I still roll with the boys from years ago. You and Dean are welcome to hang out any time."

"Thanks, man." Punk nodded. The people he knew from his younger years weren't all bad people. Some were very kind, decent human beings, just caught up in the wrong things.

He said his goodbye's and carried on down the street.

"Who was that?" Thea asked curiously.

"Just an old friend." Punk said.

"He was scary." Jude whispered.

"No he wasn't." Punk laughed.

"Yeah, I'm with Jude on this one." Thea agreed.

"He's not scary." Punk scoffed, walking down the street until they eventually got home, "Ok, it's late so… pj's on when you get in." He told them, opening up the door to the house and walking on in.

"But it's the weekend." Thea said.

"It's still late." Punk said, tossing his keys over in the pot by the door, walking on through to the living room and pausing suddenly, looking across at AJ who was standing… with her father.

"Who's this?" Thea asked sassily, walking in behind Punk.

"Who are you?" Jude questioned, standing on the other side of Punk.

"Girls… go… go upstairs." Punk nodded to them both, "I'll be up in a minute." He told them as Thea took her sister's hand and lead her out of the living room whilst he looked across at AJ who had her arms folded.

"Phil." Robert folded his arms unhappily as Punk looked across at him.


	5. Parenting

**Parenting**

* * *

"What the hell are you doing here?" Punk questioned, looking over to AJ who wasn't saying anything, watching as her father walked towards him.

"I distinctly remember telling you that if you hurt my daughter, I would break your neck." Robert said, looking at Punk who never budged, "You cheat on her, you leave her, get yourself put in prison whilst she's having a baby on her own." Robert spat.

"I left her?" Punk questioned with a slight laugh, "What about you? I had no choice. I had to go to prison. You chose to up and leave her. Your entire family." Punk said, "Don't come at me like that." Punk spat angrily as AJ looked over, choosing to not say anything yet.

"Chose to cheat on her, though." Robert glared at him as Punk stared through him.

"That was almost fifteen years ago. I was a dumb kid." Punk said, "As you can see… we've moved on." He said, "Now tell me why you're in my house?" He asked.

"We're moving back to Chicago." Robert said, "We've already moved back." He said as Punk looked over at AJ.

"Ok?" Punk said, in a questioning tone, "Still doesn't answer my question as to why you're here, in my house." He said.

"I'm here to see my daughter." Robert said.

"Your daughter? Who you haven't haven't given a crap about for fifteen years." Punk said, "Who you know absolutely nothing about." He said as Robert looked across at him, "What's the point? Seriously?"

"It's none of your damn business. This is between me and April." Robert spat.

"Yeah, well April is my wife." Punk said, "And this is my house."

He never thought he had issues with her parents, but after hearing the way they up and left her, without so much as telling her, it didn't sit well with him. They had such erratic behaviour, which definitely had caused emotional pain towards AJ as she grew up and even in her later years. Their lack of consideration for their daughter rubbed him the wrong way, especially when he could relate to having a daughter, in which he could never imagine treating any of his girls the way AJ's parents treated her.

"Then maybe I'll come back when it's just April that is home." Robert said.

"No, dad." AJ spoke up, "Phil is right. What's the point? You all left. For fifteen years. And you left when I needed my family the most." She said, "And you had to have known that I needed you." She said as Robert looked over at her.

"Your mother really wants to see you." Robert said as AJ shook her head.

"Well I don't wanna see her." AJ shrugged, "You guys didn't even ask me if I wanted to come to Puerto Rico with you. You didn't check up on me. You knew I was having a baby and you didn't even bother calling me." She shook her head as Robert looked across at her, seeing the hurt in her face.

"We're sorry-"

"Don't even bother." AJ shrugged, "Sorry won't cut it." She said, "I think you should just go." She nodded as Robert looked across at her, "I'm not a little girl anymore that needs to depend on you. I got my own family." She nodded, "A better family." She said coldly as Robert raised his eyebrows and slowly nodded his head.

"Mhm." Robert nodded, "Very well." He said, "I'll go." He announced, walking out of the living room, looking at Punk on his way out before leaving the house.

Punk turned and looked over to AJ, walking over to her.

"What the hell?" Punk shook his head, wrapping his arms around her as she hugged him back tightly.

"Why are they back?" AJ questioned as Punk rubbed her back softly.

"Did he say why?" Punk asked her as she looked up at him.

"No, he just said they'd moved back and that he'd… they'd like to see more of me." AJ shook her head, "Are they just oblivious to how they treat me? They practically cut me off for fifteen years." She said as Punk nodded.

"I know. You don't owe them anything." Punk shook his head, "Nothing at all."

"Why would they move back here?" AJ shook her head, "They hated living here. They only moved because they could get money easier… they couldn't get away with things in Puerto Rico, not as easy as they could here. I mean… what if that's why they're back-"

"Hey, calm down." Punk cupped her cheeks as AJ sighed, "You just sent him on his way. They don't have to be in your life. You're old enough to make that decision." He nodded.

"Why would they come back?" AJ groaned, starting to pace, "Come on, Phil. You know my family. There's no good intentions in them." She shook her head.

"Look, your family has always been in and out of your life. Coming in as they please. You're old enough now to call them out on it." Punk said, "It's not worth worrying about." He shook his head

"Daddy!" Jude called from upstairs.

"Go see to her, I'll be fine." AJ nodded.

"Well here… the sandwich." Punk picked up the sandwich he'd brought home for her, "Go tuck into that and I'll be down after I see what they're up to up there." He nodded.

"Ok." AJ rubbed his arm softly as he left the living room and headed upstairs.

"What's going on?" Punk asked, noticing Jude standing at the top of the stairs, "Where's your sister?"

"In the shower." Jude said, taking Punk's hand and marching him into her bedroom, "You should pick out my pj's." She said, having laid out three different choices.

"That's why you called on me?" Punk asked her.

"It's important." Jude nodded, "Lion King, Barbie or Minnie mouse." Jude pointed to her pyjamas laid out on her bed.

"I think I'm gonna have to pick… Minnie." Punk nodded.

"Ok." Jude nodded, grabbing the other two sets and throwing them over on the floor.

"Hey, you gotta put these back in the dresser. Mommy tidied your room up." Punk said, picking the pyjamas up from the floor. Their children were extremely messy. He didn't think it was a disrespectful thing, he believed it was just a kid thing.

"Sorry." Jude shrugged, stripping out of her clothes and getting her pyjamas on, "I don't want to go to bed just now." She admitted.

"Ok, well go downstairs and say hi to mommy." He nodded to her as Jude quickly ran out of her room and headed downstairs. Punk knew if there was someone that could wander the mind and cheer up anyone, it was Jude.

He walked out of her bedroom, noticing Thea had left clothes in the hallway, rolling his eyes as he picked them up and walked into her bedroom. She had a wash basket in her room, but clearly, it was too much effort to put the clothes in it.

He walked on into the tidy bedroom, throwing the clothes over into the basket when he heard a vibrating noise, turning around and noticing it was Thea's phone on her bed.

He thought to himself, and then shook his head. He promised he wouldn't be that dad that barely lets their daughters breathe. He carried on fixing the wash basket, listening to the phone continuing to beep, when he caved in and wandered over to the bed.

He picked up the phone, looking down and noticing she had messages from what was obviously a boy, unless someone had named their daughter Jackson. It made his stomach feel uneasy. He was about to open up the messages when he heard Thea coming down the hallway, quickly throwing her phone down back on the bed and acting calm.

"What are you doing in here?" Thea shook her head, in her pyjamas with wet hair.

"Putting your washing in the basket." Punk said.

"I was going to on my way out." Thea defended as Punk just raised a brow.

"Jude is downstairs with mom." Punk told her as Thea nodded.

"I need her to braid my hair." Thea nodded as Punk watched her take her phone with her and leave the room.

* * *

"Why is she texting a boy?" Punk questioned, lying in bed later that night.

"Why are my mom and dad living here again?" AJ shook her head, both of them on different wave lengths of course, "What would bring them back?"

"What if he's not even her age?" Punk thought to himself, "What the hell is he even sending her?"

"Why would my dad come here? To the house?" AJ questioned as they both wondered to themselves. Punk turned to AJ, noticing she looked concerned, worried…

"Hey, trust me. It's just your parents being your parents." Punk nodded, "You don't have to see them or speak to them just because they've moved back. I mean before you know it, they'll be moving back to Puerto Rico again." He shrugged.

"I just hate that they think they can just waltz on back into my life after they left me here." AJ shook her head, turning to him as she saw him in thought, "Don't worry about Thea." She nodded to him as he sighed.

"I gotta see what she's saying to him… what he's saying to her." Punk thought to himself.

"No, you don't. How about you just trust her?" AJ said as Punk shook his head, getting out of bed, "Phil, what are you doing?" AJ questioned, watching as he walked out of the bedroom.

Punk left their bedroom and headed into Thea's. He looked over at her, fast asleep in bed. He quietly made his way into the bedroom and took her phone from the night stand, disappearing back out the room and rushing back to AJ.

"Phillip Jack Brooks, do not look through that phone." AJ warned him, "You can't do that to her."

"Yes I can, I'm her dad." Punk scoffed, sitting down on the bed beside her, "What if he's being mean to her? Or he's being… rude? Or he's older than her? I'm just making sure she's ok. I'm a concerned father here, alright?" He said as AJ rolled her eyes.

"Well I'm having no part in this." AJ put her hands up, yet shuffling over beside him and looking on at the phone, "She would absolutely kill us." She shook her head as Punk opened up the phone.

"Ok… Jackson… Jackson…" Punk scrolled through the messages, "Ah ha." He found the name, "Little prick."

"Phil." AJ nudged him as Punk looked on at the messages, "What is he saying to her?" AJ asked, not being able to help the curiosity.

"I liked your hair today. It was nice." Punk raised a brow, reading a text message from the boy, "Thea replied… thanks, my mom did it." He said as AJ smiled.

"Well that's nice of him to say." AJ smiled as Punk raised a brow, scrolling some more.

"Lots of these weird… smiling faces." Punk noticed, "What are they called?"

"Emojis." AJ nodded.

"Hi thanks for saying happy birthday to me today." Punk read another message, "And Thea replied, I hope you have a good day." Punk said, "Maybe this… wasn't what I was expecting." Punk raised a brow with confusion.

Suddenly there was a bleep that came from Thea's phone, giving Punk and AJ a fright as Punk threw the phone over.

"The hell was that?" AJ questioned, grabbing the phone, "Facebook? I told her she wasn't allowed that." AJ scoffed, opening up the page, "Aw, look what her picture is." AJ showed him as Punk looked at the picture of Thea and Jude, "I knew she liked Jude." AJ nodded to herself.

"What is Facebook?" Punk questioned.

"I don't know, you can chat to people on it. Post pictures." AJ shrugged, "Who is messaging her on this?" She questioned, scrolling through chats, "Wait a second…"

"What?" Punk looked over, "What? What is it?"

"Little bitch." AJ spat, "Look what this girl is saying to her." AJ passed the phone to her as Punk took it immediately and read aloud.

"Just to let you know we made a hot or not list and you're on the not hot list." Punk said, "Thea replied, you're so lame." Punk nodded to himself.

"She's kinda cool." AJ thought to herself as Punk nodded.

"The only thing that's lame is you." Punk read the next message, "Yeah, good one." He nodded sarcastically.

"Stop talking to me. I'm blocking you." AJ read Thea's reply, "She's not doing anything wrong." AJ realised, "She's polite, she's not being nasty, she posts pictures of her and Jude." AJ smiled.

"I feel bad." Punk groaned, sitting the phone down, "She's responsible." He nodded.

"She is." AJ nodded.

"Yeah, I gotta go put this back in her room." He shook his head, feeling bad he'd even taken it in the first place.

He left their bedroom and walked back into Thea's room, sitting her phone back on her nightstand as he looked over at her fast asleep. He was proud of how mature she was. He never doubted her, he just knew the power of having a cell phone and how kids could get carried away, but she was badass and sweet, and he was super proud of her.


	6. Don't Tell

**Don't Tell**

* * *

"You got everything?" Punk asked, getting out of the car as he dropped Thea off at school.

"Yeah." Thea nodded, "Is mom gonna be ok?" She asked.

"Yeah, she's all good." Punk nodded, "She's just taking a couple days off work. She's kinda stressed." Punk said.

"Because her mom and dad have moved back here?" Thea questioned, "Why does she hate them? What'd they do to her?" Thea wondered as Punk looked across at her. He couldn't get away with sugar coating things with her anymore, not like he could with Jude.

"They just don't get along." Punk nodded, "She hasn't seen them in a long time."

"When did she last see them?" Thea asked, putting her arms through her backpack straps.

"She was nineteen. You weren't even born." Punk said.

"Were they mean to her?" Thea asked curiously as Punk looked across at her.

"Well they just weren't very good parents." Punk nodded, "But she'll be fine. Don't worry about it." He said as Thea just nodded, "You have a good day. Learn some stuff." He said, wiggling her cap down over her eyes as she scoffed and fixed it.

"See you later." She nodded, walking off as Punk got in the car and drove away.

She was walking down the sidewalk towards the school entrance when she heard someone calling her name, trying to get her attention. She looked around, noticing who it was and smiling.

"Sam." Thea smiled, running over, giving Sam a huge hug.

"Hi, baby." Sam smiled, "Your dad gone?" She asked, looking around wearily.

"Yeah." Thea nodded, "Where you been?" Thea asked, walking along the sidewalk with her.

"Just out of town for a couple days." Sam explained, "How is your sister?"

"She's fine." Thea nodded, "Mom's parents are back."

"For real?" Sam asked her as Thea nodded, "What's your mom saying about that?"

"Nothing really." Thea shrugged, "She's taking days off work. I think she's stressed about it." Thea nodded, "But dad is all… oh, it's ok she'll be fine don't worry." Thea impersonated as Sam smiled.

"Well he's probably right. Your mom is a tough one." Sam nodded.

"She is?" Thea questioned.

"Oh, for sure." Sam nodded, "Do you know why they're back?" Sam asked.

"No, and my mom or dad never said." Thea shrugged, "What do you know about them?"

"Nothing really. Just that they left when your mom was pregnant with you. Sort of left her on her own." Sam said.

"Well where was my dad?" Thea asked as Sam turned to her.

"Uh… he was just… he wasn't around for a little while." Sam said as Thea just nodded, "But he's right, you don't need to be worry about anything." She shook her head, "How is school?" She asked.

"Fine but I got put on a not hot list." Thea said as Sam shook her head.

"A what?" Sam shook her head.

"These girls made it up. If they think you're hot then you go on the hot list and if they think you're ugly… you go on the not hot list." Thea explained as Sam nodded slowly.

"And they put you on the not hot list?" Sam asked as Thea nodded, "Oh, baby you know what that is?" She asked as Thea looked at her, "Little thing called jealousy." She said, "You're gorgeous. And you don't let anyone tell you that you're not." She shook her head.

"I had to block most of them on Facebook." Thea said.

"I thought you weren't allowed Facebook?" Sam questioned.

"Well I'm not." Thea shrugged.

"You made one anyway?" Sam asked as Thea nodded.

"Everyone has it." Thea shrugged, "Mom was gonna let me make one and then dad changed her mind." She shook her head.

"He's just looking out for you." Sam nodded, "How is your mom doing with the baby?" She asked.

"Fine." Thea shrugged, "She had another scan thing last week." She nodded.

"Are you excited?" Sam asked.

"I don't know. I already have a sister." Thea said.

"Well maybe it'll be a boy." Sam said, "That'd be different." She said, "Or another girl wouldn't be so bad. Means you'll always have gossip, and different clothes on stand-by. I always wanted a sister." She said.

"If you spent a day with Jude, you'd feel sorry for me, trust me." Thea said, "She sleeps everywhere and then she just… she bursts into energy."

"She's just a little kid. I'm sure you were like that when you were her age." Sam said, "She'll look up to you." She nodded as Thea shrugged.

"I better go. I don't wanna be late." Thea said, stopping outside the school gates.

"Ok, sweetie." Sam smiled, "I'll see you soon. You have a good day." She nodded as Thea smiled and headed into school.

She knew Sam was her father's mom, and she knew she wasn't supposed to be talking to her, but a couple years back she was approached by her and introduced to her. She knew her parents would be mad with her if they found out she spoke to her, but she loved talking to her. She could talk to her about things she couldn't talk to her parents about, and she liked that.

* * *

"Did the girls go to school ok?" AJ asked after Punk arrived back home, finding AJ in the kitchen.

"Yeah, they're all good." Punk nodded, "You ok?" He asked, walking over and kissing her cheek as she nodded.

"Yeah, I'm ok." AJ nodded, "I just… I feel like I need answers but I also want them as far away as possible from me." She shook her head as Punk nodded.

"You haven't saw them in fifteen years. Obviously you're going to want answers." He said, making himself some coffee whilst AJ sat at the table.

"Do you think they're back for any specific reason?" AJ questioned, "You can be honest with me." She nodded.

"I am being honest with you." Punk turned to her, "I have no idea. You can't figure your parents out, I sure as hell can't." He said, "But what I do know is… you don't need them, and just because they're living here again doesn't mean you have to go see them or even acknowledge them. Not after what they did, leaving the way they did." He said.

"I know." AJ sighed, "Just makes me think, you know?" She shook her head as he sat down beside her.

"You just gotta make sure you don't let them get to you." Punk nodded, "They're the ones in the wrong. I mean they never had any regard to you or your safety at all." He said, "You just took off one day… I mean, granted it was with me, but they didn't know me that well… and they just let you go off into the world. Imagine Thea leaving here at sixteen and us not knowing where she is every night? Makes me sick just thinking about it." Punk said.

"They knew I was safe with you-"

"No, they didn't." Punk said, "They didn't know shit." He said, "And you never asked for anything from them, and the one time you needed them, you needed someone… they decided to leave the country." He said as AJ nodded to herself.

"I feel like this is a weak excuse not to go into work." AJ shook her head.

"No, it's not." Punk shook his head, "You work hard, at the office and at home. You can take a couple days." He said as she nodded.

"Part of me wants to just go pull up on their ass and scream and shout at them." She said, running her hands through her hair, "And then… the other part of me thinks… what's the point?" She shrugged.

"You know I'm with you, whatever you wanna do about it. Quite frankly, I don't think they deserve your time or energy." He said, "They never did. They took you for granted. Should have been there for you when you needed someone. I don't know if it's cause I'm a dad now or what but… the thought of just leaving my kids, especially when they need me the most, and moving country, not even so much as lifting the phone to check in… it's fucking mind boggling." He shook his head as AJ nodded.

"It's just who they are." AJ shrugged.

"Yeah, bullshit. That's what." Punk nodded, "At least my mom knows to stay away." He shook his head, "She knows she's not any kind of decent mom. Your parents just seem oblivious to everything around them."

"They've been like that my entire life." AJ said, "They're not gonna change now." She shook her head as Punk nodded.

"Well it's your decision. Whether you wanna go yell at them or ignore them, I support it." He nodded as she smiled, "I also support the fact there are no children in this house right now." He smiled as she looked over at him and laughed a little.

"You support it?" AJ questioned with a smile.

"More than you know." Punk said, tapping her foot under the table as she smiled.

"Are you trying to ask me something?" She teased as he smiled.

"Maybe." Punk nodded, watching as she stood up, running her finger under his chin as she walked on by him, heading for the stairs as Punk got up and followed her, catching up with her and picking her up on the stairs.

"Phil." AJ giggled as he carried her upstairs and through to their bedroom, collapsing onto the bed with her, carefully of course. She figured she needed her mind taken off of everything, now more than ever.


	7. High

**High**

* * *

"How was school?" Punk asked, watching as Thea got into the car, sitting in the back with Jude who had also just been picked up.

"Fine." Thea said, shoving her bag over at Jude who threw it back at her.

"Quit it." Jude hissed as Thea made a face at her.

"What'd you learn?" Punk asked, waiting in the school traffic as other parents were parked to pick up their kids.

"I learned nothing, like every other day." Thea shook her head as Punk scoffed.

"Jude learned tons of stuff today." Punk said as Thea turned to Jude who nodded.

"Yeah? Like what? How to finger paint?" Thea shook her head as Jude folded her arms.

"I already know how to do that, actually." Jude said sassily as Punk smiled.

"What'd you have for lunch?" Punk asked.

"A sandwich from the school cafeteria which tasted like shit." Thea nodded.

"Enough with the swearing." Punk warned.

"You swear all the time." Thea said.

"I'm allowed to." Punk explained, "No swearing, I'm serious." He said in a serious tone as Thea just rolled her eyes.

"Are you still on your period?" Jude questioned loudly, "Is that why you're cranky?" She asked as Punk kept his eyes ahead and chose to ignore the conversation.

"Shut up." Thea hissed.

"Mommy says that's why you're cranky. And you have to wear a bra." Jude said innocently as Thea rolled her eyes.

"You're so embarrassing." Thea shook her head as Jude shrugged, not understanding what she was saying was wrong.

"So uh… pizza for dinner?" Punk interrupted as they nodded, "We gotta go to the store on the way home. Pick up a few things for mom." He told them.

"Can I pick a snack?" Jude exclaimed.

"Sure." Punk nodded, "Maybe you should come pick one too." He spoke to Thea, "Turn that frown upside down."

"Whatever." Thea shook her head.

* * *

Punk eventually drove out of the traffic and headed to the store. AJ had gave him a list of a couple things they needed, so he figured whilst he was out he would go and get it.

"Ok, you take your sister and go pick a snack for yourselves." Punk told Thea, "Don't lose her." He scoffed.

"I wish." Thea groaned, snatching up Jude's hand and taking her to find the candy aisle as Punk chuckled to himself. It was a love hate relationship which Thea and Jude had. He knew it was just because of the age gap. Thea was growing up, becoming a teenager, mentally growing up, whilst Jude was still practically a baby just playing through life.

He grabbed a basket and began walking round the aisles, picking up things AJ had asked him to get, stopping when he saw his mother standing over by the alcohol of course. She had sunglasses on and looked to be in last nights outfit.

He shook his head and continued his shop, hoping she wouldn't turn around and notice him, but of course she did…

"Phil." Sam looked over, holding two bottles of wine as Punk looked over, "Hey." Sam smiled, walking over to Punk who nodded.

"Mom." Punk nodded, "You know the sun doesn't follow you in here." He said as Sam nodded.

"Yeah well I'm high." Sam shrugged as Punk nodded. He knew that already, "Chocolate ice-cream, pickles, toothpaste, donuts…" Sam observed the basket, "Pregnancy in a basket." She took her glasses off, pushing them above her head.

"April is pregnant." Punk nodded. He rarely saw his mother. He couldn't remember the last time he'd spoken to her. She wasn't in his life. He was at peace with that. It'd been that way for long enough.

"Congratulations." Sam nodded, "Healthy?" She asked.

"Yeah, April is good." Punk nodded.

"How is Dean?" Sam questioned.

"He's fine." Punk said as Sam spotted Thea and Jude walking down the aisle.

"Daddy I got skittles." Jude hopped her way over to Punk excitedly, tossing the chosen candy into the basket whilst Thea walked behind and tossed the chocolate bar she'd picked in.

"Hey, look at you gorgeous girls." Sam smiled as Thea looked across at her.

"Well we should get going." Punk nodded to his mother.

"Right." Sam nodded, "Enjoy this skittles." She smiled to Jude who nodded, taking Punk's hand and walking off whilst Thea followed behind, smiling to Sam who gave her a wink and let them carry on their shopping.

* * *

"Hey, babe can you put that away at the dinner table?" AJ asked Thea, sitting down the pizza they'd just got delivered, looking on at Thea who was sitting on her phone.

"I'm just playing a game." Thea shrugged.

"Ok, but I don't care." AJ nodded as Thea looked at her, "Dinner time is family time. Put the phone away." She said as Thea rolled her eyes, tossing her phone over, "What'd you do at school today?" AJ asked her.

"I did nothing." Thea said as AJ sat down the plates, waiting on Punk and Jude who were in the living room.

"You did nothing?" AJ scoffed.

"Nothing worth mentioning anyway." Thea shook her head.

"Well what classes did you have?" AJ asked.

"I don't know like… history and math… PE, biology." Thea shrugged.

"That sounds like a lot of learning." AJ said, "I loved biology." AJ nodded.

"Please, you never even went to high school." Thea laughed a little.

"Excuse me, yes I did." AJ nodded.

"For like three years." Thea shook her head, "And everyone knows the first three years you don't do anything."

"For your information, miss, I sat my high school exams after you were born." AJ said as Thea looked across at her.

"They let you do that?" Thea questioned.

"Yes." AJ nodded.

"Wouldn't it have been easier if you just did them with everyone else? Like… when you were supposed to do them?" Thea asked, "What if I wanna retake them later in life?" She asked as AJ raised a brow.

"It was different back then." AJ said.

"Maybe I wanna quit school now and I'll just do it later." Thea shrugged.

"You can't quit school." AJ shook her head.

"Well what did you do?" Thea laughed, "Get thrown out?" She joked as AJ turned around, grabbing some drinks from the fridge, not saying anything as Thea widened her eyes, "You got thrown out of high school?" She sat up, intrigued.

"In my defence it was your father's fault." AJ shook her head.

"What was my fault?" Punk walked into the kitchen with Jude who he had fetched from the living room.

"Pizza." Jude smiled with crazy eyes, running over to her usual seat at the table beside Thea, getting ready for her favourite dinner.

"You got mom thrown out of school?" Thea raised her eyebrows as AJ looked over at Punk who shook his head.

"She got herself thrown out." Punk scoffed.

"Hey." AJ laughed a little.

"I want thrown out of school." Jude piped up.

"I want you thrown out of this house." Thea told her calmly as Jude looked at her and made a kissing face at her sister.

"Things were different back then. The system was different back then." AJ shook her head, sitting down at the table with them.

They weren't trying to hide things, especially when Thea was growing up and asking questions, becoming more aware of things. They weren't going to pretend they were perfect to their daughter. Of course they weren't getting into too much detail.

"Why did you get kicked out?" Thea asked, reaching for a slice of pizza.

"Well you got so many warnings at our high school, right?" AJ turned to Punk who nodded.

"You got kicked out too?" Thea asked Punk who nodded.

"Yeah, way before your mom." Punk nodded.

"Is that why you're dumb?" Thea joked with Punk who fake laughed and shook his head.

"Actually, you learn a lot more when you're out in the world on your own than you do in any high school." Punk said.

"I agree with that." AJ chimed in, "But that doesn't mean the both of you are getting out of high school. You're both graduating and there will be no further conversations about it." She pointed her pizza crust at them. Jude wasn't even listening whilst Thea had tuned out.

"Oh, by the way…" Punk turned to AJ, "I saw my mom at the store today." He nodded as Thea looked over.

Punk spoke about his mother in front of the girls, they just didn't have a relationship with her, so they thought… of course Thea had to pretend she was none the wiser.

"How is she looking?" AJ asked quietly whilst Thea looked over.

"Same as she always does." Punk shook his head, "Told her you were pregnant. Well she guessed after looking at the basket with ice-cream and pickles-"

"My pickles." AJ gasped excitedly, getting up from the table and collecting her pickles she'd forgotten about, "I forgot all about them." She said, sitting back down with the jar, grabbing a slice of pizza and putting the pickles on the pizza as Punk watched her.

"That scares me." Punk admitted as Jude looked over, horrified at what her mother was doing.

"Mommy! You're ruining the pizza!" Jude yelled protectively.

"Don't be so loud." Thea shook her head.

"It's for the baby." AJ explained, "It's fine." She nodded as Jude watched worriedly.

"You are ruining it." Punk agreed.

"You caused this." AJ replied calmly as Punk nodded to himself, "So that's all your mom said?" AJ asked.

"Pretty much. Asked how Dean was and then we took off." Punk shrugged.

"Why do you hate your mom?" Thea asked.

Punk and AJ were aware she knew about Sam, just from bumping into her at times, but they had absolutely no idea that she saw Sam frequently, almost every week whether it was before school or after or when she was out with friends at the mall or the cinema.

"I don't hate my mom." Punk shook his head.

"Yeah you do." Thea nodded.

"I just don't get along with her. Sometimes in life, you don't get along with people." Punk shrugged.

"But it's your mom." Thea said, "I can't imagine hating my mom." Thea shook her head as AJ smiled.

"It's just different." Punk said, "Your mom is the best. So you're lucky." Punk said as AJ smiled at his sweetness.

"Is it because she's high all the time?" Thea asked as AJ and Punk looked across at her with confusion. They'd now discovered their daughter knew what being high meant, which was of course the challenges of raising a developing teen, "Well… she looks high every time we bump into her." Thea made sure to cover herself correctly.

"What do you know about being high?" AJ scoffed.

"I don't know. What do you know about being high?" Thea challenged as AJ and Punk looked at her.

"We know that if you ever do it, you'll be grounded for your entire life." Punk smiled as Thea scoffed and rolled her eyes, "I'm serious, kid." Punk chuckled as Thea just nodded along.

"What's high?" Jude questioned as they all looked at her.

"It's like… when you eat too much pizza." Thea nodded to her.

"Oh, I wanna get high!" Jude yelled, reaching over for another slice of pizza, "I wanna get high every day." She smiled as Thea chuckled to herself, watching as her parents also laughed at the ridiculousness.

"No, baby you don't need to get high." AJ assured her.

"We should all get high!" Jude exclaimed as Thea chuckled to herself and shook her head as Punk smiled.

"No, we're good." Punk chuckled as AJ smiled.


	8. Deviant

**Deviant**

* * *

"Please, mom. All my friends are going." Thea followed her mother around the house as AJ walked into Jude's bedroom with clean laundry.

"Baby, I don't care if your friends are going." AJ shook her head, "You're not going to that part of town." She made clear.

"We used to live there. What's so bad about it?" Thea questioned.

"You don't wanna know." AJ said, "There's so much trouble going around that area. Plus, you're too young to be going to a house party anyway."

"I'm practically fourteen." Thea said, "Everyone is going."

"Again… I don't care what everyone is doing." AJ said.

"I'm gonna be the only one not going. That's embarrassing." Thea said, "It's just a party."

"Ask your dad." AJ waved her hand.

"Come on, you know he won't let me go. You have to convince him." Thea nodded, following her mother out of Jude's room and into her parents room.

"Why do you want to go so much?" AJ questioned, "We could go to the movies or something? That'd be fun-"

"No." Thea scoffed, "Take Jude to the movies. I wanna go to the party." She said, "Everyone else gets to go. Their parents let them." She shook her head, "Do you not trust me?" She questioned as AJ looked over at her.

"Baby, I trust you. I don't trust other people." AJ said.

"Please, mom." Thea sighed, "This isn't fair."

"What's not fair?" Punk walked into the bedroom, having just got home from work and heading to take a shower where he found his wife and eldest daughter in the room, "I heard your whining from downstairs." Punk pinched Thea's neck playfully as she shoved him.

"She wants to go to a party. All her friends are going. Bla bla bla." AJ nodded as Thea glared at her.

"What's wrong with a party?" Punk questioned with a chuckle as Thea raised her eyebrows with hope.

"It's at a house in Englewood." AJ nodded to him as Punk turned to Thea and chuckled a little.

"Poor baby." Punk said, "Over my dead body." He said as Thea rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"This is unfair. No one else's parents freak out like you do." She said.

"Well then I guess we'll just have to be the uncool parents." AJ said, "You are way too young. Ok?" She looked across at Thea.

"Young?" Punk questioned, "You're never allowed in that neighbourhood. Ever." He said.

"We lived there. When I was little." Thea said.

"Yeah and when you're older, we'll tell you some stories about it." AJ said, "It's not gonna happen, so stop asking." She warned as Thea looked at Punk who nodded in agreement with AJ.

"You two ruin everything for me." Thea spat angrily as Punk rolled his eyes.

"Don't be so dramatic." Punk said as she shoved by him and left the bedroom.

"I almost fell off my chair when she asked me." AJ chuckled, folding up some laundry as Punk shook his head.

"No way is she going." Punk said. His mind would never be changed, "That whole place is like zombie town. And the party is in a house?" He questioned, "No fucking way." He laughed as AJ nodded.

"She's so wrapped up on feeling left out, though. Because all her friends are going." AJ said, "Torn between not wanting her to miss out and wanting her to be safe-"

"I don't care if she's left out. She's not going." Punk made clear as AJ nodded.

"It's good she told us, though. She could have lied, told us she was going somewhere else." AJ said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah well she's a good kid." Punk nodded.

"Where is Jude?" AJ asked.

"She was lying up on the couch watching TV." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"How was work?" She asked him, walking around the room, wrapping her arms around his neck sweetly.

"It was ok. My back really hurts, though. I think I might have pulled it. He said, rubbing the bottom of his back.

"I'll rub it later if you like." She smiled as he laughed and nodded.

"I'd appreciate that." Punk smirked, inching closer to her face.

"I'm sure you would." AJ smirked, leaning in and kissing him softly, before pulling back with excitement, "You wanna see something cool?" She asked him as he laughed a little.

"What?" He asked, watching as she lifted up her t-shirt.

"I'm getting a bump." She smiled as he looked on and nodded.

"You are." He smiled, "Almost as if you're pregnant." He said as she shoved him.

"But it's getting bigger." AJ smiled, standing in front of the mirror, moving around in different positions to look at her bump which was still very small but definitely becoming more noticeable.

"It is getting bigger." Punk nodded, "Not the only thing getting bigger." He said as AJ smiled.

"Yeah?" AJ questioned, "Thank you for noticing the important things." She said as he smiled.

"Hey, you know me. I have an eye for these things." He nodded, sitting down on the edge of the bed as he stripped out of his t-shirt, "You heard any more from your parents?" Punk asked her as she came away from the mirror and shook her head.

"No, nothing." AJ shrugged, "I guess my dad listened when I said I was done." She nodded, "I just… I just wanna know why they moved back." She said.

"Well why did you guys move here in the first place?" Punk asked her.

"Because we had no money. And it was easier for my dad to work illegal jobs here than it was in Puerto Rico. And… Rio was here." AJ nodded as Punk looked across at her.

"Yeah, I suppose he was." Punk nodded, "You think that's why they're back?"

"To see Rio? Bit late." AJ scoffed.

"No, for the money, to get back on the job?" Punk asked her as AJ shrugged.

"Wouldn't put it past them." AJ said, "But I don't know. Probably for the wrong reasons." She assumed as Punk nodded.

"Still playing on your mind?" Punk asked her.

"A little." AJ nodded, "But it's not as bad as a few days ago." She assured him, "It was just a shock seeing my dad again, even more shocking to see him acting like nothing had even happened." She shook her head.

"It's just who they are." Punk nodded, "Like my mom. So self-involved." He shook his head as AJ nodded.

"Are you going for a shower?" AJ asked him.

"Yeah. Although, now I've sat down I'm not sure I can get back up." He groaned as AJ laughed.

"Phil you're thirty-two years old." AJ scoffed, grabbing his hand and pulling him up from the bed as he winced like an old man, "Enough." She shoved him as he laughed and messed around with her. The inner teens in them never seemed to go away.

* * *

Later on that night, the household was in bed, when Thea got out of bed and left her bedroom, fully clothed. She wasn't one to disobey, but as an impressionable teen, she didn't want to be left out from all the fun everyone else was having.

She left her bedroom quietly. Her parents were in bed whilst she unfortunately bumped into Jude who was coming out of the bathroom, dragging her teddy bear along with her, tiredly rubbing her eyes.

"Thea?" Jude questioned.

"Hey." Thea said nervously.

"Where you going? It's night night time." Jude shook her head with confusion.

"I'm just going out for a little while." Thea nodded as Jude looked at her, "You can't tell mommy or daddy." She warned.

"Are you doing something bad?" Jude assumed. Whenever her sister asked her not to tell their parents about something, she knew it was something bad.

"No." Thea shook her head as Jude looked at her, "I'll do anything you want, as long as you just don't tell them." She nodded as Jude thought to herself.

"Tea parties with me every day." Jude nodded as Thea groaned.

"Fine, ok." Thea groaned as Jude smirked, "Fine. Just go back to bed then, ok?" He nodded to her as Jude smiled and nodded.

"Goodnight." Jude smiled, happy with her negotiating, making her way back into her room sleepily as Thea shook her head and tip toed down the stairs.

She took the keys from the pot which her parents kept them in and unlocked the door quietly, slipping out and closing it over behind her.

* * *

Later that night, the house was peacefully quiet. AJ's body was tangled around Punk's as they slept comfortably in each other's arms. Jude was fast asleep also, not knowing the significance of Thea leaving the house so late at night. She was only little and she didn't know.

Things were peacefully quiet until there was a loud knock at the door.

AJ immediately woke up first, pausing with half closed eyes as she listened out, wondering if she had just been dreaming, suddenly hearing loud knocking at their door again.

"Phil." AJ said worriedly, turning to Punk who was snoring beside, "Phil." AJ nudged him as he grumbled, opening his eyes.

"Huh? What?" Punk croaked.

"Someone is at the door." AJ said as he opened his eyes a little more, pausing as he heard someone knocking at their door.

"What's the time?" Punk shook his head, sitting up in bed as AJ turned to the clock.

"1am." AJ shook her head as Punk groaned to himself, rubbing his hands over his face.

"Ok." Punk nodded to himself, getting out of bed and walking over to the window, looking out where he couldn't see anything or anyone on the street, "I'll go down." He nodded tiredly.

"What if it's an intruder?" AJ asked worriedly.

"Knocking at the door?" Punk questioned, "Politest intruder I'd ever come across." He shook his head as AJ scoffed.

"I'm coming with you." AJ shook her head, getting out of the bed and following him out of their bedroom, heading down the stairs tiredly.

"I swear if it's Dean forgotten his house keys again I'll kill him." Punk shook his head, getting to the bottom of the stairs as AJ followed.

"Phil, didn't you lock the door?" AJ noticed the door was no longer locked.

"I did." Punk shook his head with confusion, looking over at the pot which the keys were missing from, "I for sure locked the door." Punk nodded to himself.

"Just see who it is." AJ shook her head as Punk opened up the door, AJ standing beside him as they looked on.

"Phil… April." Hamilton smiled to both of them as AJ and Punk stared at him, "I believe I have something that belongs to you?" He questioned, looking down at Thea who was standing beside him.


	9. Protective

**Protective**

* * *

"Not to worry." Hamilton said, "She didn't do anything wrong. Well… not as far as the law goes." He scoffed as Punk and AJ kept their eyes on Thea.

Thea kept her head down, looking up a little and being met with her parents staring at her, like she'd never saw them staring before. She knew she was in trouble anyway, but seeing their faces, seeing the madness, she knew she was probably grounded for her entire life.

"Where was she?" AJ questioned.

"I am standing here." Thea pointed out.

"At a house in Englewood. Lot of young kids there." Hamilton nodded, "Had to take her friend's home too. We got a call, disturbance of the peace, you both know what kind of set up it was." He looked at Punk and AJ.

"Thank you for bringing her home." Punk said. He still hated this man's guts. But right now he was too distracted to think about Hamilton.

"Mhm." Hamilton said, turning to Thea, "Following in the footsteps?" He questioned, looking at both AJ and Punk, "Maybe so." He nodded, walking away from the house and heading for his car down the street whilst Thea stood at the door, almost afraid to come into the house.

She eventually walked into the house, keeping her head down as Punk watched her.

"So I'm gonna get to bed." Thea turned to them both as they stood.

"In the kitchen." Punk pointed as Thea sighed, walking off into the kitchen. Her stomach was doing somersaults. Not good ones. She hadn't saw her parents this angry before.

"Ok, technically… I didn't do anything wrong." Thea said as Punk raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, really?" Punk questioned, "We told you no. Very clearly." Punk said, "And you went anyway. Do you have any idea how worried sick we would have been if we woke up and saw your bed empty?" He asked whilst AJ looked across at Thea.

"I'm sorry I just wanted to go like everyone else. I didn't want to be left out. Why is that so bad?" Thea shook her head.

"It's a dangerous, horrible area." Punk said, "We didn't not want you to go because we don't want you to have fun." He emphasised, "Look what happened… the cops showed up and you had to get brought home. That's not a party, that's trouble." Punk said.

"Nothing bad even happened, I don't know why they came-"

"Nothing bad has to happen in that area, the police will always be there." Punk said, "We told you no. That meant no." He said, "When the hell did you leave the house?" He questioned.

"When you guys went to bed." Thea shrugged as Punk shook his head.

"I don't think I've ever been this mad, Thea." Punk said angrily, "We told you no and you went and did it anyway. What if you got hurt?"

"God, I wasn't joining a cult or going to murder someone… what the hell?" Thea looked at him. Although she knew what she did was wrong, she couldn't figure out why it was such a big deal to begin with, "You both lived there-"

"Yeah and it was horrible." Punk said, "Every single day was horrible." He said, "You're too young to even grasp the concept of all of this." He shook his head.

"It was a party. What else do you think was happening?" Thea questioned as Punk looked across at her.

"Ok, calm down." AJ pulled on Punk's arm.

"No… no, she needs to know she can't pull this shit." Punk said.

"She? I'm right here." Thea shook her head.

"Yeah and you're grounded." Punk nodded, "And I don't even know until when, that's how mad I am." He said as Thea folded her arms, "And that phone, give me it." He said.

"What?" Thea shook her head.

"You're giving me the phone." Punk nodded.

"Phil." AJ groaned.

"No… no, give me the phone." Punk said as Thea handed him over her phone, "This is going in the trash and you're getting a new one that can only text and call. No Facebook, no… I don't know the other stuff." He said truthfully, "But no more of that."

"I don't have Facebook." Thea lied.

"You do have Facebook." Punk said, "Which was yet another thing we told you no and you did it anyway." He said as Thea looked at them.

AJ wasn't saying anything, because she wasn't really sure what to say. She was of course very shocked and disappointed in Thea, but there was also part of her that saw herself in Thea, and that made it harder to be mad at. She knew the only reason Punk had lost his cool was because he was so protective of her.

"This is unfair." Thea said, "I said I'm sorry."

"Yeah well sorry don't cut it for this." Punk said, "Now go to bed." He told her as Thea looked at them both.

"You guys are always unfair." Thea shook her head before leaving the kitchen and heading upstairs as Punk groaned to himself and ran his hands through his face.

"I can't believe she did that." AJ shook her head, sitting down at the kitchen table as Punk shook his head.

"She doesn't even know the concept of shit like this. She's too young." Punk sighed to himself.

"You were too hard on her." AJ said.

"What?" Punk turned to her, "Are you kidding me?"

"No, you were." AJ nodded, "This was a chance for us to talk to her, otherwise we're just the mean parents yelling at her." She said.

"You think I was too hard on her? That was me refraining from a lot." He said, "April, you know what goes on around that area, you know what happens at those parties." He said, "She's thirteen years old."

"Yeah, exactly. She's thirteen and she's impressionable and she wants to go have fun with her friends. We can understand that." AJ said.

"Yeah, exactly. She's impressionable and she's naïve. How many times did we go to those parties and you were offered shit? Or I was offered shit? We were older so we knew better. She is a child." Punk emphasised.

"I know you're just worried but I don't think this should have been a shouting argument." She said.

"Yeah well maybe it'll make her not do it again." Punk said, "I mean she completely ignored what we said. We gave her a strong no and she… she waited until we were asleep to go… she knew what she was doing." He shook his head.

"And you've never sneaked out of your house before?" AJ questioned.

"No, I haven't. I didn't have parents who cared. So I didn't have to sneak anywhere." Punk said, "Why are you fighting me on this?"

"I'm not fighting you." AJ scoffed, "I'm just saying that… to get through to her, shouting isn't going to do anything. She isn't a baby. You can have a conversation with her."

"No, I'm too mad." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"I know." AJ said, "I bet Hamilton enjoyed that." She shook her head.

"Why isn't he retired yet?" Punk shook his head, "I swear he used to chase my mom when she was young." He said, looking across at AJ, "Look, I'm not trying to be the strict, uncool parent. I don't want anything bad to happen to her. We know that world. Too well." He said as AJ nodded.

"I know." AJ nodded, "It was real easier when she was little." She said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Punk sighed, "I couldn't live with myself if something bad happened to her. That's why I'm mad." He said as AJ nodded, standing up.

"I know. She's just… she's growing up and she… she wants to be with her friends, have fun… there's nothing wrong with that." She said, "But she just doesn't know the dangers of a lot of things yet, and yeah that scares me." She nodded as Punk sighed to himself, "Do you want me to take them to school in the morning?"

"No, I'll take them." Punk said, "I'll be cooled off in the morning. I think." He said as she nodded.

* * *

The next morning, the girls had gotten up for school like normal. Jude was her usual sleepy self, falling asleep at the kitchen table whilst stirring her cereal around. Thea was simply sitting, not saying anything. She hadn't spoken to anyone all morning.

"Ok, let's go." Punk nodded. AJ had already left for work and he was sticking out the school run.

"I'm too tired." Jude groaned, jumping off the chair and taking her backpack from Punk, "May I go back to bed?"

"No you may not." Punk said, "It's time for school." He nodded as Jude pretended to cry, "Oh, stop it." Punk scoffed as Jude walked her way down the hallway.

Thea stood up from the table and walked straight past Punk as he watched her. He figured they were both giving each other the silent treatment, and that was fine.

He eventually got the girls into the car and drove them to school. He of course dropped Jude off first like normal, and then Thea. The car ride was extremely quiet. When he arrived at Thea's school, he watched as she took her bag and opened up the door.

"Have a good day." Punk said as Thea looked over.

She was used to her father getting out of the car and giving her a hug, but it appeared this morning she wasn't going to get that. She could see he was still mad, and she'd never wanted a hug more from him than she did right now.

She didn't reply or say anything, stepping out of the car and closing the door over as she put her backpack on and headed into school.

* * *

"She snuck out?" Dean chuckled, later on that day once Punk got to work.

"It's not funny." Punk said seriously.

"It is a little." Dean nodded.

"Yeah? What if it was Chrissy?" Punk asked.

"Well it's not. That's why it's funny." Dean said as Punk groaned, taking a seat, "You really stressed about it?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. I am. And I seem to be the only one. You're laughing. AJ thought I was freaking out too much." Punk said as Dean looked at him, "Come on, man. Don't act like I'm crazy for freaking out. She's thirteen years old." He said as Dean nodded.

"Yeah, I know." Dean said, "I know, I'd be freaking out if it was Chrissy, trust me." Dean nodded as Punk sighed to himself.

"We told her no. She kept asking and asking and we said no. She still did it anyway." Punk said.

"Ok, just for a second… I want you think about when you were thirteen and how your brain worked." Dean said as Punk looked at him, "How every thirteen year old's brain worked." He rephrased, "You're figuring yourself out and you're making friends… you don't wanna be left out and you wanna be involved in the cools thing that are going on." Dean said as Punk rolled his eyes.

"It's different, though. We were out on our own. We had no choice." Punk said, "And she's texting a boy, you know?" He said.

"You went through her phone?" Dean questioned as Punk nodded, "That's a bit shitty of you."

"I'm her dad-"

"Not really an excuse. C'mon, man. That's her personal shit. You don't trust her?" Dean asked.

"Well not after last night." Punk said, "You remember all the stupid shit we saw when we were growing up. I don't want her to see any of that-"

"Ok but… you can't shield her from absolutely everything. And if you did, she'd… she'd never be able to live her life without you holding her hand-"

"I'm fine with that." Punk shrugged.

"Phil." Dean said seriously as Punk sighed, "Yeah she shouldn't have snuck out, I'd be mad too, but… you still gotta let her grow up." He said as Punk nodded.

"I know that. I just… I don't want her to see the things we had to see." Punk said, "Or do the things we had to do."

"She won't. We didn't have anything else. She's got a family that loves her, and she obviously has friends. She's a good kid and you know that." Dean said.

"I know she's a good kid." Punk said.

"The best thing for you to do right now is just talk to her. Don't yell and scream, she's not gonna hate you." Dean shrugged, "Talk to her, tell her what you just said to me." Dean nodded.

"I took her phone from her too." Punk said as Dean looked at him, "What? I bet that's how she communicates with all her seedy friends." He said.

"Would you stop it?" Dean laughed as Punk groaned, "What is AJ saying about this?"

"Nothing really. She was obviously disappointed and mad that Thea snuck out but… she doesn't seem as bothered. She barely said anything to her."

"Well that's probably because she sees herself in Thea." Punk said, "And I just see my thirteen year old daughter who is sneaking out of the damn house to go to Englewood." He shook his head, "My heart races just saying it."

"You gotta calm down." Dean chuckled to himself as Punk sighed, "Come help me shift these boxes." He said as Punk stood up and headed to help.


	10. Peace Offering

**Peace Offering**

* * *

"Hey, why are you picking me up?" Thea asked, getting into her mother's car after school. Normally it was her father that picked them up, so she assumed he was angry with her he couldn't even face her, which wasn't a good feeling.

"Well I got away from work early, thought we could go for a milkshake. Just us girls." AJ smiled as Thea looked at her mother with confusion.

"Jude too?" Thea questioned, turning around into the back seat where Jude was sitting drawing pictures on the condensation on the window.

"Yes. Jude too." AJ smiled as Thea just nodded, "How was school?" She asked.

"It was fine." Thea said as AJ drove off down the road.

"You learn anything?" AJ asked her.

"No." Thea shook her head.

"Nothing at all?" AJ asked as Thea shook her head.

"Is dad not picking me up because he's mad at me?" Thea asked.

"Yes, he's very mad." Jude chimed in from the back as AJ scoffed.

"No." AJ corrected as Jude smiled cheekily, "No, he's not mad with you."

"Yes he is." Thea said.

"He's just upset. Worried." AJ nodded.

"Why? Nothing bad happened." Thea shook her head.

"I know." AJ said, "But you still shouldn't have gone out. There was a reason we didn't want you to go. We don't just do and say things to be your mean old parents." She said as Thea sat quietly.

They finally arrived at the milkshake place, getting a seat and looking at the menu.

"What do I want?" Jude asked her mother as AJ laughed.

"I don't know what you want, baby." AJ smiled.

"Read some things to me." Jude asked.

"They do an Oreo milkshake. You'll like that." Thea told her sister.

"Then I'll have that." Jude shrugged.

"Can we get waffles too?" Thea asked as AJ nodded.

"Sure." AJ said, "What do I want?" She hummed to herself, "Or what does the baby want?" She corrected as Jude looked at her mother.

"Does that mean you get two milkshakes?" Jude asked as AJ smiled.

"I wish." AJ said.

Someone eventually came over and took their order, bringing out the milkshakes and waffles, which she knew were the girls favourite types of food and treats, taking that trait from her.

"Oh, this is nice." Jude told them, kneeling up in the booth beside AJ whilst Thea sat across, "Is everyone else's nice?" She asked as AJ smiled.

"Yeah, it's good. Especially those waffles." AJ pointed to the waffles they were sharing.

"Mommy I think I'll colour in this picture." Jude told her mother, reaching for the picture the staff had given her with some crayons.

"Ok, baby." AJ smiled, running her hand down the back of Jude's head sweetly.

"And I'll give it to daddy because we went for waffles without him." She said whilst Thea ate the whipped cream from the top of her milkshake.

"I think daddy would love that." AJ smiled, turning to Thea who was stirring up her milkshake, "So whose party was it?" AJ asked.

"What?" Thea shook her head.

"A friend? An older friend?" AJ questioned, "Different high school?" She asked as Thea looked across at her.

"Just a junior, someone that Louise knows." Thea shrugged, "Everyone kinda got invited."

"Where was it?" AJ asked.

"Ugh it was like just off Racine Avenue, couple blocks down from the laundry place." Thea said as AJ nodded.

"We lived on Racine." AJ nodded, "And we moved when you were three."

"Yeah, I'm kinda glad. It's a dump." Thea nodded.

"What happened at the party?" AJ asked.

"Why are you questioning me?" Thea shook her head.

"I just wanna know." AJ said defensively.

"Nothing. I was with my friends, we went… I didn't drink anything or smoke anything, if that's what you wanna ask." She said, "About an hour in the cops came, everyone ran but they rounded up the ones who looked the youngest. When the cop asked me my name he… laughed." Thea shook her head, "Just at me, though."

"Yeah, we… we know that guy a little bit." AJ nodded, "Did you see anything at the party? Anything you wanna tell me about?" She asked.

She knew her daughter wasn't dumb. She was very bright. Maybe too bright. Instead of shouting, she wanted to have a conversation with her, she figured it would go down much better.

"Like what?" Thea shrugged, looking down at her milkshake.

"I don't know, things that maybe people shouldn't be doing?" AJ asked.

"Like drugs?" Thea asked as AJ nodded, "Yeah, I guess. It's hard to tell." She said as AJ nodded.

"Ok… so you see why this made your dad upset? Why it made both of us upset?" AJ asked as Thea looked across at her, "Baby, we're not trying to knock the wind from your sails. We want you to be safe and that neighbourhood… parties in that neighbourhood, they aren't usually just parties. Bad things happen." AJ nodded.

"I know. But we were super careful." Thea said, "And we were only gonna go for a little while. And Kerry's older brother was there too so… so we were fine." Thea shrugged as AJ looked across at her.

"Thea." AJ looked at her daughter as Thea sighed, "You know you shouldn't have gone. We said no. And it was because we want you to be safe. You're way too young to be going to any kind of party, never mind one in that neighbourhood."

"I'm almost fourteen." Thea rolled her eyes.

"You're thirteen." AJ said, "I know it feels like we're being unfair to you, but we just want you to be safe. You can't sneak out in the middle of the night. That's not cool and you had to have known that." She said.

"I thought you guys would be ok with it." Thea shrugged.

"Did you really?" AJ questioned, looking at Thea who shook her head.

"I just didn't want to be left out." Thea said.

"And I get that." AJ nodded, "But… was it even worth it?"

"No, not really." Thea realised, "I probably should have just stayed at home." She said as AJ nodded, "I won't do it again."

"Good." AJ said, "Because we might lose your father to a heart attack." She feared with a smile as Thea smiled too.

"Why aren't you as mad?" Thea asked. It wasn't hard to notice who was angrier with her. Obviously being her father.

"I am mad." AJ assured her, "But I get it. You wanted to be with your friends and be a part of whatever… fun, I guess." She said, "But I am your mama, and I can't be the cool fun mom on this one. Your safety is way too important to us." She nodded.

"I get that." Thea nodded. She understood what she had done was wrong anyway, but talking to her mom in a calm manner was helpful, "Dad is gonna ground me for life." Thea sighed.

"No… he's too soft." AJ smiled, "But he is very mad." She nodded, "Just because he's protective and he loves you. That's why he was yelling." She said as Thea nodded.

"He could have just talked to me like this." Thea shrugged.

"I know but I don't blame him for getting mad. You shouldn't have done it and that's the bottom line." AJ nodded, "When you go home you can talk to him." She said.

"If he talks to me." Thea rolled her eyes.

"He will." AJ assured her.

"We should bring waffles home for daddy." Jude told them both as AJ smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." AJ smiled, enjoying the rest of her milkshake date with her favourite girls.

* * *

They got home later on. They'd brought Punk home his favourite waffles. Jude wanted to present the waffles to him but AJ convinced her to let Thea do it. She figured it would help as a peace offering of some kind.

"Hey, we're home." AJ called.

"In here." Punk called from the living room, sitting on the couch watching the cubs game, still in his dirty work attire.

"Hey." AJ smiled, walking into the living room, "Phil, what'd I say about the dirty clothes on the couch?" AJ groaned.

"I know I know." Punk said, "But I just needed a seat for like five minutes before I take a shower." He said as she nodded.

He worked on the docks with Dean and some other old friends. The job involved a lot of heavy lifting, trade and messy building. But being outside in the fresh air every day was something he found very appealing about the whole thing.

"Daddy." Jude smiled, running into the living room after taking her shoes off, jumping onto Punk on the couch as Punk chuckled.

"Hi, baby." Punk smiled, giving her a kiss and a cuddle as she squeezed him, "How was school?"

"It was fine. I got a milkshake. An Oreo one." Jude told him as Punk smiled.

"That sounds good." Punk smiled.

"Jude why don't we go get your homework out in the kitchen?" AJ suggested as Jude nodded.

"Oh, ok." Jude nodded, jumping down from the couch and following her mother out of the living room.

"Where is-" Punk turned around, pausing when he saw Thea standing at the door, holding a white box with some napkins and a plastic fork, "Hi." Punk said.

"Hi." Thea replied, "We brought you back some waffles." She shrugged, "If you want them." She said as Punk looked over at her and nodded.

"Yeah, sure." Punk said as she walked over and handed him the box, sitting down beside him as Punk looked at her.

"I'm sorry for sneaking out." Thea said, "It was stupid and I… I won't do it again." She said, "I know you just want me to be safe, and bad things can happen in that area." She nodded, "I won't go back. Even if… I'm the only one not going." She shrugged as Punk looked at her.

"I never want you to feel left out, but if I have to choose between that or your safety… you know what I'm picking." He said as she nodded.

"I know." Thea said, "I'm just really sorry." She nodded.

"It's ok." Punk nodded, "Maybe it would have been better if I just talked to you about instead of losing my head but… I was mad, I didn't expect you to do something like that."

"I was just scared of being left out." Thea nodded.

"Yeah, I get it. I was your age at one point too." He said, "I just want you to be safe." He nodded.

"I know." Thea nodded, "I don't like it when you're mad at me." She said.

"I don't like it either." Punk said, "We're good." He assured her. Knowing she knew what she did was wrong was the most important part. He couldn't stay mad at her, especially not when she was being so sweet. He just wanted the best for her, and for her to be safe and protected from the things no one protected him from.

"I won't do it again." Thea promised.

"Good." Punk nodded, "Because you will be grounded for life." He said.

"How long am I grounded for right now?" She asked him.

"Let's just do the week." He said, "Since you brought me waffles." He nodded as she smiled.

"Ok." Thea smiled as he wrapped his arm around her, kissing her head, "Can I have a bit?" She asked as Punk opened up the waffles.

"Didn't you have some?" Punk chuckled.

"I was eating with pregnant mom and Jude, I got one bite." She shook her head as Punk chuckled.

"Fair point." Punk nodded, giving her the fork as she broke off a piece of waffle.

AJ was about to walk back into the living room to ask Punk something when she stopped herself, smiling on as she saw Thea lying up against Punk as they watched the cubs game, back to their normal bonding selves which she loved to see.


	11. Escaping

**Escaping**

* * *

"Jude!" Thea yelled, storming out of her bedroom and looking for her sister, "Jude, where are you?" Thea questioned, rushing off into her parents' bedroom where her sister normally hid out in to watch a movie.

"Why are you yelling?" Jude moaned, lying up on her parents bed.

"What the hell is this?" Thea questioned, holding up one of her white t-shirts which had clearly been used to clean up something, like grape soda.

"A t-shirt." Jude smiled.

"I'm not joking." Thea said, "This is my favourite t-shirt."

"I spilled soda in the kitchen and I… there was no towel." Jude said worriedly.

"So you used my t-shirt?" Thea spat, "This is my favourite t-shirt you little brat." She said, throwing the t-shirt at Jude who was unbothered by the yelling.

"What's going on in here?" Punk walked into the bedroom after he heard the yelling.

"Jude ruined my favourite t-shirt." Thea said as Punk turned to Jude who shrugged, "She's so dumb."

"Ok, Thea that's enough." Punk warned, "We can get you a new t-shirt, it's fine." He scoffed.

"No, they don't sell them anymore. It's a tour t-shirt. They don't make new ones." Thea explained as Punk groaned.

"It's just a t-shirt." Punk said as Thea shook her head and stormed off. He turned around and watched as Jude sank back against the cushions and pillows, unbothered by Thea's attempt at anger and violence, "You couldn't find a towel?" Punk asked her.

"No." Jude shrugged, "Is she on her period?" She questioned as Punk rolled his eyes. Somehow Jude believed that whenever someone got mad, they were on their period. Even him. He had been asked many times by his five year old daughter, if he was on his period.

"No, she's not." Punk scoffed, "What are you watching?" He asked.

"Spongebob." Jude said, "When is mommy home?" Jude asked.

"She should be home soon. I'm gonna start dinner. We're having spaghetti." He told her as Jude nodded, "You done your homework?"

"Yes." Jude answered simply.

She was a very straight forward kid. No bullshit, as Dean would eloquently put it.

"Ok, I'm gonna go check on your sister. See if she wants to have a funeral for her t-shirt." He shook his head, walking out of the bedroom and heading into Thea's where she was sitting on her bed on the laptop.

"She should buy me a new one." Thea spat.

"She's five." Punk rolled his eyes, "What you doing on the computer?"

"Looking to see if I can find the t-shirt on ebay." Thea said as Punk rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure you'll find a similar one in a store somewhere." Punk said, "You wanna come help me make dinner?" He asked her.

"Yeah, I guess so." Thea sighed, shoving the laptop over and getting off the bed, "As long as Jude isn't helping."

"Hey… stop being so mean to her. She's only five." Punk said, walking down the stairs as Thea followed.

"She's rude and obnoxious." Thea shook her head.

"Hey, your sister has a huge heart and you know it." Punk said, "She's just a little loud and… blunt, that's all." He shrugged, "You absolutely loved her when she was born." He reminded her.

"Yeah, when she couldn't talk." Thea scoffed, "She was a cute baby." She nodded.

"She was." Punk agreed.

"Hey, can I get my tongue pierced?" Thea asked.

"No." Punk scoffed, "Why would you want your tongue pierced?" He shook his head.

"I don't know, it looks cool." Thea shrugged, "Didn't you have yours pierced?"

"Yeah but I was dumb." Punk concluded, "And it got caught all the time." He shook his head, "Especially spaghetti." He winked jokingly as Thea rolled her eyes.

"I think it looks good, though." Thea said, "I'll get mom to take me." She smirked.

"No, she hates piercings." Punk shook his head, "Well… she hated mine." He shrugged, "Why don't you just get your ears pierced?"

"I have my ears pierced. Everyone does." Thea scoffed.

"Then that's enough. No piercings and no tattoos." He said as Thea rolled her eyes.

"I'll just get them all when I'm eighteen." Thea vowed as Punk shook his head.

"I'll still be on your ass like a hawk when you're eighteen." He said as Thea shook her head, "Ok, put the water onto boil for the spaghetti." He told her as she grabbed a pot out.

* * *

"Hey, can I please have this on my desk for tomorrow morning? Lots of copies of them?" AJ asked one of the assistants who came to and from her office. Yes, she had a fancy office of her own.

"No problem." Her assistant, Lucy smiled, "Are you finished for the day?" She asked.

"Yeah, that's me." AJ smiled tiredly, standing up from her desk and grabbing her coat, "Gotta get home and make sure the girls haven't killed Phil." She nodded, "Or each other." She said as Lucy smiled.

"Well you have a nice night." Lucy nodded politely.

"You too, sweetie." AJ smiled, watching as the young girl left her office, grabbing her purse from beside her desk as she heard her office door open again, assuming it was Lucy, she looked up, and was disappointed to find who it really was.

"An office all to yourself." Janet, her mother smiled as AJ looked over.

"What are you doing here?" AJ questioned.

"Well your father told me all about you turning him away. Really upset him." She said, "So I thought I'd come visit you."

"It upset him? Well boo hoo." AJ said, "You know what upset me? My entire family leaving me on my own, pregnant, with absolutely nothing… that was upsetting." AJ nodded.

"Let's face it, April. If we asked you to come to Puerto Rico, would you have come?" Janet asked, "You were gonna wait on that pathetic husband of yours coming out of prison… there was no way you were gonna come with us-

"You didn't even care or bother to ask." AJ spat, "You could have stayed and helped me. Not that your parenting skills were needed of course, but I was so alone for such a long time." She shook her head, "It was the one time in my life I could have used my family."

"Yeah, when it was convenient to you. You needed us as soon as your little boyfriend got put in prison. We were your second choice-"

"Don't talk to me about second choices. You never gave a shit about me or what I was doing. Don't act like I picked Phil over you." AJ spat.

"Well you did. Always running off with him. Not coming home. I bet if you never met him, you would have finished high school, went to college, got your degree, met a good man-"

"Phil is a good man." AJ defended, "And I don't regret a single thing in my life, it all happened for a reason because now things are good, and we have a family. Something I always wanted."

"You had it, baby. You just ran away from it." Janet nodded.

"I had no choice. You were toxic. You always fought with me. Dad was always in trouble-"

"Ok, you see where I have trouble understanding you and your messy brain." Janet said, "Ever since you were a little girl, you hated what we did, you hated the alcohol and you hated the drugs and then… then you ran off with some guy who was just as bad as us, and you became worse." She pointed out, "I don't know if that was just your daddy issues shining through or you just got messed up but-"

"Maybe I didn't know any different my entire life." AJ spat, "It's all I grew up around. It's all Phil grew up around." She said, "So yeah, he was very appealing to me because we both understood the feeling of… of wanting better, wanting family... and we got carried away with some things but the difference between me and you is… we figured our shit out, we did good for our kids." AJ said, "You didn't. You still aren't."

"Why didn't you call when Rio was murdered?" Janet questioned as AJ looked across at her.

"Why would I?" AJ shook her head.

"Well that man was like family. He was like a brother to you." Janet said as AJ ran her hand through her hair.

"He was the root of a lot of my problems, believe me." AJ nodded, "And he played innocent, the good guy." She said, "You don't know what he was really like."

"I do. I spent a lot of time with him. He thought the world of you." Janet said.

"Oh, really?" AJ scoffed, "Well he's dead now so…" She shrugged.

"Have they found who did it?" Janet questioned.

"No." AJ shook her head, "No they gave up working on it a year or two after it happened." AJ said, "Why? You come back here and hope he could help you with money?" AJ questioned.

"No, as a matter of fact we moved back here because we're in a better position. Grandma and Grandpa passed away." She said as AJ raised her eyebrows, "So we… we got a little bit of money."

"Nice of you to tell me." AJ nodded.

"Yeah well we have two granddaughters that we don't know about-"

"You knew about the first." AJ warned, "And it's not like you cared."

"We do care." Janet insisted as AJ shook her head, "What are their names?" She asked as AJ looked across at her.

"Thea is the oldest one. She's thirteen. Jude is five." AJ said, "I'm also like thirteen weeks pregnant." She said as Janet raised her eyebrows.

"Well congratulations." Janet nodded as AJ looked across at her, "Is this them?" She asked, picking up the picture frame on AJ's desk which was a picture of the girls and Punk.

It was on a Christmas one year. Jude was sitting on Punk's knee squishing his face whilst Thea sat beside with Punk's arm around her.

"Yeah, that's them." AJ nodded.

"They're very like you." Janet nodded, examining the picture, "And he sticks around?" She questioned.

"What do you mean?" AJ screwed her face up, "He's my husband. We're not just some fling."

"Well when I met him, with all due respect, he seemed like a little bit of a nutter." Janet raised her eyebrows.

"He was sixteen." AJ scoffed, "What do you want from me? Because we're beyond the point of having mother and daughter bonding time." She said, "I have gone through some horrible shit in my life, and the only person who was ever really there for me was Phil. You weren't, and you didn't care to be there for me either." She said, "So this is done. There is no relationship here. I told dad the same thing."

"So you won't let us see our grandchildren?" Janet questioned.

"Like you even care." AJ shook her head as Janet looked at her, "If you cared, you would have been here from the beginning. You can't just choose when you wanna be a grandmother. I mean before I know it, you'll be moving back to Puerto Rico again, and my kids are gonna be old enough to realise that you left because you just don't give a shit, and I don't want them to feel like I felt." She spat.

"Same old April." Janet nodded, "Always bottling up everything she has to say until she snaps." She said.

"Bottling up? You've been in a different country for thirteen years. When else did you expect me to say this to you?" AJ questioned, "And you couldn't even tell me that grandma and grandpa died?" She shook her head angrily, "It's like I really don't exist in your world."

"Yeah well my world is a lot more quieter when you're not in it, April. Believe it or not." Janet said, "You might be doing well in life, working hard in a good job, a loving family, but you never escape who you are."

"Oh and who am I, mom?" AJ spat.

"That lost little girl, who just wants to feel free." Janet nodded.

"Well you never knew me very well, mom." AJ nodded, "I'm the happiest I've ever been, and I'm not modest enough to say that I don't deserve it, because I do." She said.

"Well… no doubt about that." Janet said, "Just shows if you work hard you really can achieve anything." She nodded, "But like I said… it doesn't mean you can escape."

"What am I escaping from?" AJ questioned as Janet looked across at her.

"I should get going." Janet nodded, "Now I'd like to see my grandchildren." She said, walking towards the door, "Think about it." She said, opening up the door and walking out as AJ groaned loudly, collapsing back down on her chair and biting her finger anxiously.


	12. The Enemies

**The Enemies**

* * *

"You're late." Punk said tiredly, sitting on the couch later that night as AJ just got home from work.

"I'm sorry, I got caught up at work." AJ shook her head.

"For five extra hours?" Punk looked at her as she took her coat off.

"Yeah, I guess so." AJ nodded, "It was a crazy day." She said, "Are the girls ok?" She asked, picking up some of Jude's toys that were on the living room floor. Some action figures she collected and played with, as well as some my little pony's. Toys which were very painful if stood on.

"Yeah, they're in bed." Punk nodded, "Jude was upset you weren't home to say goodnight to her."

"Oh, don't make me feel bad." AJ sighed.

"I'm just saying, when it comes down to bedtime… she likes mama tucking her in." He said as AJ smiled.

"I know, I'm sorry… it was a busy day and I just stayed behind to be ahead for tomorrow morning. I have a huge briefing and pitch." She said, "I'm super nervous about it." She said as Punk nodded.

"You'll do amazing." Punk smiled. He was so proud of her dedication to her job. She was so career driven and she couldn't think of a better role model for their daughter's. Especially given where they had come from, the childhood they both had, to have successful and very well paid jobs now was a huge triumph for them.

"I don't know. I feel like I'm getting pregnancy brain." AJ shook her head, placing her hands on her hips, "Like my brain is just turning to mush." She said.

"Maybe you're just tired." Pun suggested, "So Thea wants her tongue pierced." Punk said as AJ looked over at him. She wasn't really listening to him. Her head was in the clouds, and she wanted to disappear for a little while from their everyday problems, "I said no obviously but… she's convinced that you're gonna take her." He said, watching as AJ walked over to him.

"Oh and Jude used one of her t-shirts to…" Punk paused as he watched her sink down to her knees in front of him, "To… clean up grape soda…" He said, watching as she pulled at the waistband of his shorts.

He lifted his hips as she pulled them down, watching as she wrapped her hand around his length, smirking to himself as he watched her stroke him up and down. There never needed to be a reason for them to be intimate, that was very clear over the years. The mood always appeared to be right with them.

He watched as she took his length in her mouth, bobbing her head up and down as he ran his hand through her hair, "Fuck." Punk moaned, "Fuck, yes." Punk moaned, watching as she moved her mouth up and down around him, releasing him to use her hand as she looked up at him with a devious smile.

She continued to use her mouth on him whilst taking off her panties under the dress she was wearing, eventually standing up and straddling over him, bunching her dress up and guiding his length inside her.

"Fuck, baby." AJ moaned, taking his chin and passionately kissing him as she moved her hips up and down on him, feeling his hands circle around her waist, "Harder." AJ whispered in his ear, "Give it to me." She begged as Punk picked her up, laying her down on the couch, still deep inside her as he began thrusting into her hard.

Her legs circled around his waist as she felt him kissing her neck, pushing her dress down to expose her breasts which he cupped and toyed with. He always knew how to satisfy and more. He was the only person she'd ever been with, since she was a teenager, and that meant something to her. He'd grown to know her entire body, as much as she herself knew it, and that made moments like these so much easier, so much better.

"Fuck." Punk took a deep breath, lying on the couch as AJ lay on top of him. They were both half dressed. AJ's dress was bunched around her waist as she lay on top of him, her hair settled over his face as he brushed it off.

* * *

"Mmm, that was nice." AJ said sleepily as Punk chuckled to himself, running his hand through his hair.

"Didn't even give me time to prepare." He said as she smiled.

"You looked ready." AJ smirked, resting her cheek back down on his chest.

"I'm always ready." Punk agreed.

"My mom came to see me tonight." AJ told him as he looked down at her.

"Ok, now this makes a little more sense." He chuckled a little.

"What do you mean?" AJ tilted her head up to look at him.

"Well… this is what you do when you get stressed." He nodded, "I could tell when you came home something was bothering you." He said, "I can't help feel a little used." He teased.

"Hey, you got yours." AJ scoffed as he smiled.

"What'd your mom say?" Punk asked her.

"A lot, actually." AJ nodded to herself, still thinking of everything her mother had said to her earlier on, "My grandma and grandpa died so… they got money and that's why they're back over here." She said, "She also asked a little about Rio, and then asked why I never told her about the girls. Told me I had daddy issues. That I was snapping. That I was basically a weak little bitch." AJ nodded, "And she still hates you as far as I can see." She said as Punk shook his head.

"There was no way you could have removed her from your office?" Punk asked, "She's full of bullshit, April. You know it. You can't believe anything she says. She doesn't care." He shook his head, "She never did."

"And I know that, so why does it still hurt to hear her say things like that? You'd think I wouldn't care." She shook her head with frustration.

"Well I think deep down we still care about the things our own family have to say about us." Punk said, "Good or bad."

"I thought I didn't." AJ admitted, "Still hurts."

"You're above them. So above them." Punk said, "They were the ones who left. Who didn't care. You have nothing to feel bad about. Let them talk their shit." He shook his head.

"She asked why I never called her and told her about Rio." AJ said, "That he was like family to us." She shook her head as Punk stayed quiet. Even after all these years, that name, it was still very sour to both of them, as imagined.

"Just don't listen to her." Punk shook his head, cupping the back of her head softly.

"She wants to see the girls." AJ said.

"Who the hell is she to demand anything?" Punk questioned, "No way. Thea is thirteen. She hasn't gave a shit about her, or Jude. At least my mom is smart enough to know she's not gonna be in the girls lives." Punk shook his head as AJ nodded.

"I just wish they stayed in Puerto Rico. I still don't understand why they came back. Because believe me, they didn't come back just to see me." She said.

"Forget about them." Punk said, "I know I can say it a lot easier, because they're not my parents, but… they don't care, it's so obvious. And you deserve so much better than that." He said, "I don't want you to stress over them It sure as hell ain't worth it."

"I know." AJ sighed, looking up at him, resting her chin on his chest, "I love you." She smiled. She felt lucky to have a husband who wasn't only her best friend, but at times her therapist. Someone who would listen to her, guide her in the right direction, remind her of her worth.

"I love you." Punk smiled, leaning forward and kissing her head as AJ smiled. Forehead kisses were her favourite, filled with so much safety and love.

* * *

"Where did you tell your mom and dad you were going?" Sam asked, walking down the street with Thea the next day after she'd finished school.

"Just to a friend's house." Thea shrugged, "I don't know why I can't just tell them I'm hanging out with you." She said, "What's the big deal?" She said as Sam smiled a little.

"Your father would go crazy." Sam said, "And I don't want you getting into trouble." She said as Thea sighed.

She spent a lot of time with Sam, occasionally going to her house after school, which she would tell her parents she was just going to a friend's house. There was just something about her that she loved. Her free spirit.

"Jude would like you. I wish she could spend time with you." Thea nodded.

"How is she?" Sam asked her.

"She's fine. Although she… used my t-shirt to wipe up grape soda the other day." Thea shook her head, "Not sure I've forgave her yet."

"Oh, she's just a baby practically." Sam smiled as Thea nodded, "How did your party go? Did your parents let you go?" She asked.

"No." Thea shook her head, "But.. I went anyway, snuck out after they'd gone to bed." Thea said as Sam raised her eyebrows.

"That's a dangerous game to play." Sam said worriedly.

"Well yeah, cause I got caught. The plan was, I go for a couple hours, I get back and they wouldn't have even known I was gone but… the cops came to the party and all the younger ones got taken home. So… mom and dad found out and my dad lost it. Mom was actually… fine about it. She was mad but like… not that mad." Thea explained.

"Your dad is just really protective. Whilst your mom can probably relate to you." Sam said, "So you got grounded?"

"Just for the week. My dad was super annoyed but then we talked it out and he was fine. He can never stay mad at me for too long." She smiled as Sam laughed a little.

"That'll help you out in the future." Sam nodded.

"He also took my phone away but… he gave me it back yesterday." Thea shrugged.

"Sounds like fair punishment for sneaking out." Sam said, "Why'd the cops show up?"

"I don't know. They just pulled up out of nowhere." Thea shook her head.

"Jackpot for drugs." Sam nodded, "You give the cops your name?" She questioned.

"Yeah, they asked." Thea shrugged, "One of the officers laughed when I told him my name." She said as Sam nodded.

"Yeah, that'd be Hamilton." Sam said.

"You know him?" Thea questioned.

"You could say that." Sam said, "Your mom and dad definitely know him." She nodded, taking a cigarette out of her purse as Thea watched her light up, "He's a real piece of work." Sam shook her head, taking a drag.

"I mean he was nice to me, I guess." Thea nodded.

"Of course he was." Sam shook her head, turning to Thea, "You want?" She held the cigarette out as Thea nodded.

"Yeah." Thea said, taking the cigarette from her, "How come my mom or dad doesn't do this? I mean, most of my friends parents drink at least." She said.

"I don't know. I still think your dad did it to spite me." Sam said, "Prove a point. And I don't really know about your mom." She said, "Ok, that's enough." She said, taking her cigarette back from Thea.

"Isn't this where I was born?" Thea asked, walking down the street with Sam. She very rarely went to her grandmother's house, but whenever she did, she always found it fascinating to see the place she was born.

"Yeah, we're just coming up to the apartment." Sam nodded, "Beside that laundry place."

"The block with the smashed windows?" Thea raised a brow.

"Mhm." Sam nodded, "Top floor." She said, "Your mom and dad worked hard to get out of there. Really hard." She nodded.

"Do you think someone else lives there now?" Thea asked.

"Probably." Sam said, "Maybe not… considering the window is all smashed." She said as Thea looked over.

She ran across the road as Sam watched her, "Hey, what are you doing?" Sam asked, watching as Thea ran over to the apartment block, running after her.

"I wanna look inside." Thea shrugged.

"It'll be empty." Sam scoffed, watching as Thea opened up the smashed door to the apartment building, walking on in. Sam rolled her eyes and put her cigarette out before running in after her.

Thea ran up all of the stairs, dodging the broken glass down the side of the stairs, staring at all the drawings on the walls, some inappropriate words spray painted here and there.

"This is so whack." She said as Sam tried to catch up with her.

"Hey, there might be someone living there." Sam warned her, although she was never very good at being strict.

"Which one? A or B?" Thea asked.

"Ten B." Sam nodded, reaching the top of the stairs as Thea looked on at the apartment door, noticing beside it on the wall there was a heart with a A and P inside it, and below there seemed to have been an added T on later.

"Should I knock?" Thea asked.

"Why do you want to go in?" Sam laughed, watching as Thea opened up the door, "You're trouble." She realised, watching Thea smile as she opened up the door to the very much empty apartment.

"It's empty." Thea told her, walking on into the apartment, walking down the hallway and looking into the first room, which was the bedroom, "What's the smell?" Thea asked.

"Damp." Sam nodded, "This place is rotting." She shook her head, looking up at the ceiling, "No wonder no one else is living here."

Thea wandered down the hallway and into where the living room used to be. All it was, was an empty room with a smashed in window.

"I can't believe they lived here." Thea shook her head.

"They were kids." Sam shrugged, "Bet it makes you grateful for your home."

"Yeah, no kidding." Thea said, looking around. She left the living room and wandered through to the kitchen, "It's so small." She shook her head.

It was eye opening. Compare to the home she had now, to look around this place and realise that things weren't always perfect. It was important, it was fascinating to her.

"It is small." Sam agreed.

Thea looked around, noticing something down the side of the fridge, crouching down and picking it up as she raised her brows.

"Look at this." Thea said, showing Sam the picture of what was her mother and father, looking very young.

"Oh, wow." Sam took the picture, looking at the close-up picture AJ and Punk had taken. She estimated they were seventeen or eighteen.

"You don't suppose no one else has lived here since them?" Thea questioned.

"I have no idea." Sam said, "I guess this picture would have been picked up if someone had." She figured as Thea nodded.

"They look so weird." Thea said, looking at the picture. It was strange seeing her parents, the authority figures in her life, the people who took care of her, as teens, looking like they had no care in the world for anything or anyone.

"Long time ago." Sam nodded.

"There's something else down there." Thea noticed, crouching down, noticing something sticking out behind the fridge, tugging on it whilst Sam stayed looking at the picture, "What's this?" Thea asked, pulling out a large bag from behind the refrigerator.

Sam looked up, gasping a little when she noticed what was in the bag.

"Put that down." Sam spat immediately, tossing down the picture as it fell to the floor, "Put it down." Sam demanded angrily as Thea dropped the bag.

"What? What is it?" Thea questioned as Sam looked on with confusion, picking the bag up.

They suddenly began to hear voices from outside, coming up the apartment block stairs. Sam immediately threw the bag of class A drugs back behind the fridge, grabbing Thea by the arm and taking her into the kitchen cupboard.

"Don't say a word." Sam whispered, holding Thea close to her, making sure she didn't look out the creak in the cupboard.

Sam watched closely through the creak in the cupboard door which they were hiding in, listening as the footsteps got closer towards them, hearing whoever it was, coming into the apartment.

She watched through the creak, placing her hand over her mouth as she watched Punk walk into the kitchen with his hood up. She kept Thea's head turned into her, watching as Punk pulled the fridge out and picked up a bag, throwing it onto the table.

Sam kept her hand over her mouth in shock. Even if she could speak, she wouldn't have been able to find the words.

She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She was speechless.

She watched as he took his phone out, clearly making a text as she kept Thea's head close to her, making sure she didn't look out, especially now that it was her own father.

She stood watching as Punk waited, folding his arms as he leaned against the fridge. She suddenly began to hear footsteps coming from the block stairs. Heels.

She closed her eyes, feeling like she was watching her son tear apart his family apart right in front of her. She couldn't believe what she was witnessing.

She opened her eyes back up when she heard the heels making their way into the apartment, coming closer to the kitchen, watching as AJ walked into the kitchen. Now she really couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Thea looked up at her, desperate to see what was going on, but Sam warned her with a simple facial expression to not think about turning around.

"He's not left all of it." Punk said, turning to AJ who picked the bag up and looked inside.

"Great." AJ said with concern, "Ok, just take what he's left. I'll check on it tomorrow." AJ nodded to him whilst Sam covered Thea's ears, making sure she couldn't pick up on her parents voices.

"Ok." Punk nodded, "The door was lying open when I got here." He told her as AJ looked across at him.

"Let's just get this out of here, quickly." AJ shook her head as Punk nodded.

Punk grabbed what he could as AJ picked up the rest, about to leave the kitchen when she noticed he picture of her and Punk on the floor.

Sam watched from the closed cupboard as she crouched down and picked up the picture, looking at it a little suspiciously as she looked around the kitchen before shoving the picture in her coat pocket and leaving the kitchen.

Sam took a deep breath, letting go of Thea who looked up at her. She was completely terrified, as any normal young kid would be.

"It's ok." Sam nodded, "It's fine, they're… they're gone." Sam said, realising how absolutely ridiculous that sounded as Thea turned around and walked out of the cupboard.

"What was in the bags?" Thea questioned, "Look, they're gone." She said suspiciously as Sam ran her hands through her hair.

"Jesus I need a drink." Sam placed her hand on her chest, not knowing how she was going to deal with this.


	13. Not The Same

**Not The Same**

* * *

"Hi, baby. Did you have fun at Louise's?" AJ smiled, watching her eldest daughter walk into the kitchen.

"Uh… yeah, yeah it was good." Thea smiled, "Where is Jude?" She shook her head.

"She's upstairs watching a movie in our room." Punk said, sitting at the kitchen table, "We're doing pizza for dinner, you good with that?" He asked her.

"Yeah, that's cool." Thea nodded.

She was still a little shook up from the day's events with her grandmother of all people. Sam had told her that it was no doubt drug dealers, and warned her to never go back to the apartment. She didn't plan on going back after what happened anyway.

It was in the exact moment, she realised how safe she felt with her parents. In her own home. She realised why her father was so uptight about her spending time in the rough area where she was born. Although she hadn't seen anything tonight, she felt the presence of trouble and danger, and it was terrifying.

Out of thanks that she was home safe, she walked over to her mother and wrapped her arms around her unexpectedly as AJ raised her eyebrows whilst Punk looked over.

"Oh, thanks baby." AJ laughed a little, wrapping her arms around Thea and kissing her head.

"You ok?" Punk asked as Thea nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Thea smiled, "Louise's parents are a little crazy so… makes me appreciate you guys a little more." She teased, making something up of course.

"Oh, how nice." Punk nodded as AJ smiled.

"I might go watch that movie with Jude." Thea nodded.

"Sure. We'll order pizza later." AJ smiled, brushing her hand through Thea's hair, "Does Louise's parents by any chance smoke too?" She laughed a little, smelling the smoke from Thea, of course not knowing it was actually coming from her.

"Yeah, they do." Thea nodded quickly, "They smoke a lot." Thea said as AJ nodded.

"Can you check on Jude and make sure she's not napping?" Punk asked, "Otherwise she just won't sleep tonight." He said.

"Yeah, sure." Thea said, "What movie is she watching?"

"Cars." Punk nodded, "For the umpteenth time." He said as Thea smiled.

"I know every word of that movie." Thea rolled her eyes, leaving the kitchen and heading upstairs as AJ smiled.

"Do you think she's ok?" AJ wondered.

"Yeah, why?" Punk shook his head.

"Well, when was the last time she voluntarily hugged one of us?" AJ asked, "I needed that hug." She said. It was nice to still get that love from their eldest daughter.

"Yeah, where the hell was my hug?" Punk laughed a little as AJ smiled cockily.

"Hey, this was on the floor at the apartment, by the way." AJ said, showing him the picture of them when they were teenagers.

"Wow, look at that." Punk took the picture from her, "Babies."

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "But it was… it was in the middle of the floor." AJ said with confusion.

"Probably down the side of the fridge or something." Punk said, unbothered, "Isn't that the greatest blonde hair you've ever seen?" He asked as she took the picture back and scoffed.

"No, it really isn't." AJ laughed a little, shoving the picture back into her coat pocket.

* * *

Later on that night, it was the usual pizza night before the weekend. The girls came down from watching the movie as the pizza arrived.

"Needs more cheese." Jude said tiredly, sitting playing with her pizza slice.

"This is the cheesiest pizza ever." Punk laughed as AJ looked across at Jude.

"Baby are you tired?" AJ asked Jude.

"Yes I am tired, mama." Jude sighed, "Thea didn't let me nap." She said, folding her arms.

"You wouldn't sleep tonight." Thea looked at her sister.

"I would too." Jude argued just as there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it." Punk said, getting up from the table and leaving the kitchen, walking down the hallway and opening up the door, surprised to see his mother standing.

"Step outside." Sam said.

"What?" Punk shook his head.

"Step outside." Sam said as Punk looked at her with confusion. He turned back and looked at the girls who were talking to AJ, discreetly stepping outside and closing the door a little behind him.

"What the hell do you want?" Punk shook his head.

"Are you dealing again?" Sam asked angrily as Punk looked across at her.

"What?" Punk looked at her, "What are you talking about?" He asked angrily.

"Answer the question." Sam said, "Are you dealing again?" She spat. She knew what she saw today.

"No, I'm not dealing again." Punk said, "What the hell?"

"I saw you." Sam spat, "I saw you near your old apartment." She said. Of course she couldn't say she was actually in the apartment when he was there, because that would have led to so much more questions.

It was then she saw his shoulders go a little tight, realising he had to think of something quick, which gave her all the answers she needed.

"I was checking out the old apartment, to see if anyone was living there." Punk said, "A buddy of mine at work is looking for a place and-"

"You're lying through your damn teeth!" Sam spat as Punk looked at her, "What the hell are you doing? You have two kids." She said angrily.

"I'm not doing anything." Punk said angrily, "Why the hell are you watching me?"

"I'm not. I live near there. I saw you." Sam said, "What happened the last time you went down this road?" She questioned, "You went to prison."

"What the hell are you coming here for? Getting all mad? Like you give a shit about anything I do." Punk said, "I ain't dealing." He looked her in the eye as Sam shook her head.

"Maybe I wasn't a good mother, but I never lied to you." Sam pointed her finger at him, "You are going to destroy your family."

"Don't educate me on anything, mom." Punk said, "I'm not dealing."

"You swear on your daughter's lives." Sam looked him in the eye as Punk looked down at her.

"Leave my house." Punk warned her as Sam looked up at him. She knew he wouldn't swear on their lives, because he was lying.

"You're gonna ruin everything." Sam warned, backing away from the house as Punk watched her walk off down the street, running his hands through his hair and taking a deep breath.

He stood outside for a minute, needing the fresh air, before walking back into the house, closing the door over behind him.

He made his way back into the house, walking down the kitchen as AJ looked up at him.

"Who was it?" AJ asked him, noticing there was something wrong with him.

"Just someone trying to sell something." Punk scoffed as AJ looked across at him, watching him shake his head and nod to the girls as she nodded slowly.

It didn't take long before the girls finished their pizza and wandered off into the living room, leaving AJ and Punk in the kitchen by themselves.

"Who was it?" AJ asked him.

"My mom." Punk said as AJ shook her head with confusion, "Asking me if I'm dealing again. Said she saw me at the apartment." He shook his head with frustration.

"What'd you say to her?" AJ raised her eyebrows.

"Well I had to deny it. I said that I was looking at the apartment for a buddy at work. She knows I'm lying." Punk said.

"What the hell does it mean to her?" AJ shook her head.

"I told you we shouldn't do it during the day." Punk shook his head.

"Well when else do we do it?" AJ asked him as Punk sighed, running his hand over his face, "She doesn't know the details. She can't judge." She shook her head.

"Has he text you?" Punk asked as AJ shook her head.

"No." AJ said as Punk nodded, "Did she see me?" She asked.

"She didn't mention you." Punk shook his head, "What the hell are we gonna do?"

"Nothing." AJ said, "We don't do anything. What is she gonna do? Go to the cops?" AJ said as Punk sighed.

"This entire situation is bullshit." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"I know it is." AJ said, "Trust me." She shook her head as Thea walked into the kitchen.

"Jude wants ice-cream now." Thea told them.

"She wasn't hungry ten minutes ago." Punk scoffed.

"Just take it out the freezer." AJ nodded to Thea who smiled, walking over to the refrigerator, pausing when she noticed the picture from earlier, the picture from the apartment, stuck onto the fridge.

"What is that?" Thea questioned, spooked.

"What's what?" Punk asked.

"That picture." Thea pointed as Punk turned to AJ.

"Uh… I found it upstairs somewhere." AJ smiled to Thea who looked at her.

"Oh." Thea nodded slowly, looking back at the picture which she could tell was definitely the one from the apartment. She wasn't sure of the likeliness that there was another copy that her mother had found. She was very confused.

"How good does my hair look there?" Punk teased, watching Thea look at the picture.

"It looks terrible." Thea said as Punk nodded to himself.

Thea opened up the freezer underneath, taking two ice-cream cones from it and wandering back into the living room where her sister was.

"What are we gonna do?" Punk asked AJ, "We can't keep doing this. This wasn't how it was supposed to be."

"Yeah, don't I know that?" AJ said, "What choice do we have?" She questioned as Punk sighed to himself, "You gotta tell your mom what is going on."

Are you serious?" Punk shook his head.

"Yeah, I'm serious. Otherwise she'll just think you're dealing again, like before." AJ said.

"Well there's not much of a difference." Punk shook his head.

"Yes there is." AJ said, "You think we want this?" She questioned as Punk looked across at her, "Tell her what's going on, we don't need any more people on our backs." She said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, I know." AJ nodded, "I think I need an ice-cream." She said with stress as Punk smiled a little, watching as she opened the freezer.

"Hey, we're gonna be fine." Punk nodded to her as she turned around and smiled.

"I know we are." AJ nodded to him with a smile, "I'm gonna go eat this and probably fall asleep on the couch." She said as Punk nodded.

"I'll be in to watch it all." He said as she smiled, leaving the kitchen as he leaned back on the chair, rubbing his forehead and sighing to himself.


	14. Preparing

**Preparing**

* * *

"Hey, man. I gotta take off. Jude is sick and April is in meetings all day. I gotta go pick her up from school." Punk let his boss know.

"No problem." His boss nodded, a very laid back man.

"Thanks." Punk said, rushing up the stairs from the docks and heading for his car where he saw Dean standing around having a smoke break.

"Where you going?" Dean asked.

"Jude is sick so I gotta go pick her up from school." Punk said, "April is in meetings all day so she can't get away." He said as Dean nodded.

"Well I hope she's ok." Dean nodded, "Give her a hug from her Uncle Dean." He said as Punk nodded.

"I will." Punk said, "Catch you later." He nodded, getting in the car and driving off to Jude's school to pick her up. It didn't take him long to get there as it wasn't that far away from his work.

He parked the car and headed on into the school, heading into the office area to collect Jude.

"Can I help you?" The woman approached him, tilting her glasses down.

"Yeah, I got a phone call. My daughter, Jude Brooks is sick. I've come to pick her up." Punk said.

"Oh, yeah." The woman nodded, "I'll go get her." She said as Punk nodded, standing waiting at the door as the woman eventually brought Jude out who was as white as a ghost and extremely tired looking, more than her usual level of tiredness.

"Hi, baby." Punk frowned as Jude extended her arms out to be picked up. Punk lifted her up into his arms, feeling her little head rest on his shoulder.

"Can you just sign this here?" The woman asked, "Just to file it through that you picked her up." She said as Punk nodded, taking a pen and scribbling his signature down.

"Thank you." Punk nodded, picking up Jude's backpack and leaving the school, "You not feeling good, baby?" Punk asked her.

"No, daddy." Jude told him as Punk nodded, rubbing her back softly, "I was sick everywhere!" She exclaimed unhappily as Punk nodded.

"We'll get you home and into bed." He said, feeling her head and realising she had quite the fever, "I think you'll need some medicine too." He said, opening up the car door as he helped her in, proceeding to watch as she threw up over herself and a little over him too. But it wasn't the first time either one of his daughter's had thrown up on him.

"Sorry." Jude frowned.

"Oh, it's ok. It's ok." Punk nodded to her, reaching over for some napkins that were in the car, cleaning himself and her up the best he could, "Maybe we should take you straight to the doctors." He thought to himself. She appeared to be getting paler and clearly sicker.

* * *

"Thea." Sam ran over to Thea who had just got out of school later that day, "Hey, is your mom or dad picking you up?"

"I have to get the bus." Thea said, "Jude is sick and my dad had to take her to the doctors. Mom is working." Thea said, "Are you ok?" She laughed a little at how frantic her grandmother looked.

"Y-Yeah, yeah, I'm ok." Sam nodded. Her main priority was making sure Thea didn't know anything about was going on, "Hey, you gotta promise me something." She said as Thea turned to her.

"What?" Thea asked.

"You don't go back into that neighbourhood. And you don't go back to that apartment." Sam said, "I shouldn't have let you go in there, and I just-"

"Jeez, Sam. Chill out." Thea laughed a little, "I won't go back. It freaked me out." She admitted.

"I know. I know, it freaked me out." Sam said, "I just don't want you to get hurt. It's a dangerous area and just because you're a kid doesn't mean you're immune." Sam made clear as Thea nodded.

"I know, I get it." Thea said, "I guess my mom and dad were right about not letting me go there." She said as Sam nodded slowly. The irony.

"Yeah, they were." Sam said, "So just stay away from it." She said as Thea nodded.

"Ok." Thea nodded, "Who even was it in the apartment? Did you know them?" She asked.

"No." Sam said, "No, I didn't. Just… dealers probably." Sam nodded, "Nothing you need to worry about, ok?" She nodded.

"Ok." Thea said.

"Is Jude ok? You said she was sick?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, my dad text me saying that I had to get the bus because he was at the doctors all day with Jude. She was being sick a lot." Thea shrugged, "And mom is in meetings all day." She said.

"Oh, poor Jude." Sam sighed.

"Yeah, she doesn't normally get sick." Thea said as Sam frowned, "Hey, the weirdest thing… that picture that we saw in the apartment, my mom put it on the fridge last night. I mean she obviously has another copy but like… weird, right?" Thea said as Sam nodded slowly.

"Yeah, that is weird." Sam said calmly.

"Were you around my mom and dad when they were young?" Thea asked.

"No, not really." Sam said, "Your mom and dad sort of… did their own thing." She said as Thea nodded slowly, "You heard anything else about your mom's parents?"

"No, actually." Thea said, "They haven't spoken about them again." She shrugged. She liked that she could talk to Sam about things she necessarily wouldn't talk to her parents about. It was a good outlet for her. A good relationship. She had a hunch that her grandmother was an alcoholic, possibly a drug addict. There were times she'd talked to her and noticed she was drunk or high. But that didn't make a difference to her. She put one and one together and figured that's why her father didn't talk to his mother.

"Weird that they just showed up after all this time." Sam thought to herself.

"Yeah, it is weird." Thea agreed, suddenly hearing her name being called from behind as she paused and turned around.

Sam turned around, noticing a boy running towards them, raising her eyebrows and smiling as she got a cigarette out.

"Hey, Jackson." Thea shook her head, "You ok?" She asked the boy.

"Yeah, I missed last period. Did we get any homework?" Jackson asked whilst Sam smiled, watching them.

"Uh no… we didn't." Thea smiled, "You're good." She said as Jackson nodded, turning to Sam.

"Is this your sister?" Jackson teased as Sam chuckled.

"Aren't you charming." Sam smiled, "You hurt my grandbaby and you'll have me to deal with." She pointed her cigarette at him as Thea rolled her eyes.

"That's your gran?" Jackson raised his eyebrows as Thea nodded, "You look young." He turned to Sam.

"Yeah, that's all the vodka." Sam nodded.

"Right." Jackson said, "I'll see you around, Thea." He smiled as Thea nodded, watching him walk on by down the street.

"Who is that?" Sam asked with a smile.

"No one." Thea shrugged.

"Well… he's not no one." Sam said, "He looks older than you." She raised a brow.

"Just a couple years." Thea said.

"But he's in the same class as you?" Sam questioned.

"Yeah, I go to a higher class for math." Thea nodded.

"Oh, check you. Little smart ass." Sam smiled, "So he likes you?" She asked.

"I don't know." Thea shrugged modestly as Sam smiled.

"Boys are only good for one thing." Sam scoffed as Thea turned to her.

"And what's that?" Thea asked.

"Sex." Sam shrugged as Thea raised her eyebrows, "Which you should know nothing about." Sam made clear as Thea rolled her eyes.

"I don't know, he's always really nice to me." Thea said.

"Yeah, that's what they do. Before you know it, you got two kids and he's ran out on you." Sam nodded as Thea looked at her.

"Yeah ok, Sam." Thea scoffed, "This is my bus stop." She said as Sam nodded.

"Ok, sweetie. Give me a hug." Sam said, wrapping her arms around Thea who hugged her bag, "I'll see you soon. And you stay away from that area." She warned as Thea nodded.

"Ok." Thea nodded.

* * *

Later that night, AJ got home from work, desperate to see Jude after Punk calling her to tell her she had a bad case of food poisoning.

"Oh, hi baby." AJ sighed, taking her coat off and rushing over to the couch where Jude was lying up on with a blanket.

"Hi." Jude said, not her usual self.

"My poor girl." AJ frowned, tucking Jude's hair behind her ear, "How you feeling?" She asked.

"My tummy hurts." Jude said.

"Did you get medicine from the doctors?" AJ asked her.

"I don't know." Jude shrugged tiredly.

"Ok, where's daddy?" AJ asked.

"In the kitchen." Jude said as AJ nodded, walking on into the kitchen where Punk was sitting with Thea at the kitchen table, helping her with homework.

"Hey." AJ smiled, leaning over and kissing her husband hello, reaching over and tickling under Thea's chin as they greeted her hello.

"You good?" Punk asked her as she nodded.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "What did the doctors say? She's so pale." AJ said worriedly.

"They just said to keep her resting, don't let her eat much of anything, just some water. Let it pass her system." Punk nodded.

"She must have gotten it from school." AJ shook her head.

"Yeah, well that's what the doctors said so I called the school and let them know." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"Ok." AJ said, "I totally panicked when I got out of those meetings." She said.

"No, she's all good. Just a few days of rest." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"How was your day, sweetie?" AJ asked Thea.

"Yeah, it was fine." Thea nodded as AJ smiled.

"Ok, now you're here I gotta go to Dean's and pick up something for work." Punk said, standing up from the table, looking over at AJ and giving her a discrete nod as she nodded back.

"Ok, well don't be long." AJ smiled as he nodded.

"Can I come?" Thea piped up as Punk looked across at her.

"Uh… I'm only going to pick something up. Plus… you got all that homework." He said as Thea huffed.

"Which I will help you with." AJ assured her daughter.

"I won't be long." He told them, leaving the kitchen, walking through the living room, "I'll be back soon, puddin." He leaned down, kissing Jude's head as she patted him like a dog.

"Bye, daddy." Jude said sweetly as Punk headed out of the house.

He wasn't going to Dean's. AJ knew that. After spending a restless night where they both tossed and turned in bed, trying to figure out ways to get Sam off their backs, they had come to the conclusion that they just had to let her in on the truth.

He walked all the way to the house he grew up in as a child, the house which somehow his mother was still able to run, even alongside her drinking and drug habits.

He knocked on her door, waiting around for an answer until she finally answered the door, glass of wine in one hand, her other hand perched on her hip as she stared at him.

"Are you here to sell me some drugs?" Sam raised a brow as Punk rolled his eyes.

"Just let me in." Punk shook his head as Sam opened up the door wider and let him into the house, "I'm here to explain." He told her, walking on through to the house as Sam watched him, taking a swig of her wine in preparation as she followed him through.


	15. Search

**Search**

* * *

"Ok, sit down." Punk nodded to his mother, sitting down at the kitchen table. The house he grew up in was more like a bar than a home. And it still looked and smelled the same way.

Punk watched as Sam grabbed her bottle of wine, topping her glass up as Punk rolled his eyes.

"Got a feeling I'll need this." Sam said, taking a seat.

"First of all… you haven't told anyone anything, have you?" Punk asked.

"Oh, yeah. All those friends I have." Sam said sarcastically.

"I'm being serious." Punk said as Sam looked across at him.

"No, of course I haven't." Sam shook her head, "But you better have a good explanation for this. You have a good family. Don't… Don't destroy it." She sighed to herself. Her main concern was her granddaughters. She'd gotten to know Thea and she had so much love for her, and little Jude too. She didn't want to see them in any sort of danger.

"I'm not." Punk said, "This wasn't a choice." Punk said as Sam looked across at him, "I didn't get sucked back into it. April knows all about it." He said, "She's actually been helping me." He shook his head, "It's not so much my problem as it is… both of our problem." He said as Sam nodded. Of course she already knew that AJ knew.

"Someone's making you do it?" Sam asked.

"It started a couple years ago-"

"Years?!" Sam shrieked, "Are you kidding me?"

"Calm down." Punk said, "Just let me explain." He said as Sam threw her wine back and reached for the bottle again as Punk grabbed it from her, "I want you half sober for this." He made clear as Sam looked at him.

"For how long?" Sam asked.

"About two years now." Punk nodded, "It just happened one night." He said, thinking back.

* * *

_Two years ago…_

"_Jude finally went to sleep." AJ sighed, walking into the kitchen where Punk was sitting at the table, looking at different paper work for their mortgage._

"_I told you, she shouldn't be sleeping during the day." Punk said, "She's gonna be a nightmare when she starts school." He predicted, "She'll never wake up."_

"_Oh, she'll be fine." AJ said, "Now that they're both asleep…" She hummed, wrapping her arms around him from behind as he laughed a little, "You have no idea how much I wanna throw all of that on the floor." She looked at all the letters._

"_You and me both." Punk said as she kissed his cheek, kissing down his neck as Punk smiled, "April." Punk hummed._

"_What? I'm not doing anything." She hummed innocently, standing behind him, taking her bra off through her t-shirt and dangling it in front of him as he chuckled and nodded._

"_Ok." Punk nodded, standing up and running his hand over the table, knocking over all the paper work he had sitting out as AJ raised her eyebrows._

"_That was hot." AJ nodded as Punk chuckled, picking her up and sitting her on the table, cupping her face, hair tangled through his fingers as he kissed her passionately._

_She melted into the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Her hands quickly moved their way up his t-shirt, feeling his hot skin under her fingertips._

_The only thing stopping them was the loud knock at the front door. They broke apart as Punk turned and looked at the clock._

"_Who the hell?" Punk shook his head, running his hands over his slicked hair which AJ had messed up a little._

"_Ignore it." AJ tugged on his hand as there was another knock which got more of her attention._

"_Dean probably got locked out of his house." Punk shook his head._

_He walked out of the kitchen and down to the door, opening it up where he strangely found no one at the door. However, he did find a black bag sitting on the doorstep._

_He looked on with confusion, looking around the dark street to see if he could spot anyone, but it was eerily quiet. He looked back down at the black bag and picked it up, walking back into the house and opening the bag up._

_He had to pause half way towards the kitchen as he looked inside the bag._

"_April." Punk said with concern. He knew what he was staring at. He just didn't understand._

"_What?" AJ said, walking out of the kitchen, "What's that?" She asked, watching as he walked through to the kitchen, following him, "What is it?" She questioned as he sat the black bag on the kitchen table._

_She leaned over, opening up the bag and looking in. She thought her eyes were deceiving her. She knew what she was staring at, but she didn't understand why and how._

"_Why the hell has someone left that on our doorstep." Punk said as AJ looked in at the bag._

"_Did you see anyone out there?" AJ looked up at him as he shook his head._

"_No… there was no one there." He said, watching her reach into the bag, "Don't touch it." He warned. _

"_I'm just looking in case there's something else in it." AJ said, moving the drugs around as she looked deeper into the bag, eventually finding a piece of paper, "What the hell is this?" AJ ripped it out of the bag as Punk walked over._

"_What does it say?" Punk questioned._

"_From me to you." AJ said, "Love M." She shook her head, "M?"_

"_Who the hell is that?" Punk looked at AJ who shook her head._

"_I don't know but we now have kilos worth of drugs in our house, Phil." AJ spat._

"_What the hell do you want me to do with it?" Punk questioned, "Who the fuck would dump this on our doorstep? And for what reason?" He shook his head._

"_I don't know." AJ shook her head, "I don't know." She said, "But we have to get rid of it." She looked across at him, suddenly listening as there was a loud knock at their door, both of them looking at each other._

"_Shh." Punk told her as she backed up against the kitchen counter, out of sight from the kitchen doorway as Punk did the same, looking across at her._

"_Police, open up!" Another loud knock carried through the house as AJ looked across at Punk with fear, her eyes widening as Punk ran his hand through his hair._

"_Take the bag and go upstairs." Punk told her as AJ looked at him with horror._

"_Are you kidding?" AJ spat._

"_Just do it. Trust me." Punk said._

"_I am not taking this upstairs." AJ hissed._

"_Open up!" The police banged at the door._

"_They are coming into this house. You take the bag upstairs and put it in Jude's room." He said as AJ looked at him with horror._

"_Phil, I-"_

"_I've been in this situation, many times before." Punk reminded her as she looked at him, "We are leaving in handcuffs if they find that bag. Both of us." He said as she looked at him, "Take it upstairs and hide it in Jude's room." He told her as AJ nodded._

"_Ok… ok." AJ said frantically, zipping the bag up and rushing down the hallway, running up the stairs as Punk gave himself a shake, walking out of the kitchen and down the hallway towards the door._

_He opened it up, noticing Hamilton standing with another police officer._

"_We have a warrant to search your house, Brooks." Hamilton gave him the piece of paper as Punk took it._

"_Why?" Punk asked Hamilton as they walked into the house._

"_We've got reason to believe you're dealing again." Hamilton nodded as Punk looked at him._

"_Yeah well if I was, I wouldn't be keeping my shit in my house." Punk said, slamming the piece of paper back against Hamilton's chest as the officer chuckled and nodded._

"_Of course you wouldn't." Hamilton smiled, "April not home?" He asked curiously._

"_She's upstairs." Punk said, "Our girls are sleeping so… as less noise as possible." He said, turning to the other officer who just nodded, "Wasting your damn time."_

"_You take down here." Hamilton told his partner, "I'll take upstairs." He said as Punk looked at Hamilton, "You don't look so good." Hamilton said, patting Punk's cheek on the way by as Punk pushed his hand away, watching as Hamilton began to climb the stairs._

_He felt his heart racing, his palms sweating and his stomach doing nervous summersaults. _

_Hamilton climbed the stairs, reaching the top as AJ came out of her and Punk's bedroom, looking across at Hamilton in the upstairs hallway._

"_April." Hamilton nodded._

"_What the hell are you doing here?" AJ spat._

"_Just clearing some things up." Hamilton nodded, walking towards her and heading into the bedroom as AJ watched him._

"_Clearing what up?" AJ questioned._

"_Some accusations." Hamilton said as AJ watched him begin to raid their dressers, the closet, ripping out things from under their bed._

"_Accusations of what?" AJ spat._

"_Your boy falling off the wagon." Hamilton said._

"_Who sent you?" AJ asked him, watching as he pulled the bed covers from the bed._

"_Can't really say." Hamilton shrugged, taking the pillows and pulling the pillow cases from them as AJ rolled her eyes._

"_Phil is not dealing." AJ shook her head, "This is unnecessary. My daughters are sleeping." She spat._

"_I don't really care." Hamilton shook his head as AJ looked at him, watching as he walked on past her and into the on suite bathroom. She rubbed her hand over her forehead which was sweating with nerves, "Y'all got a nice house, actually." Hamilton thought to himself, "Not bad for a couple of poor kids." He said as AJ ran her hands through her hair._

"_Yeah well we're not poor little kids anymore." AJ said._

"_Obviously not." Hamilton said, checking around the bathroom, in shelves, checking the tiles on the floor, not finding what they were looking for._

"_We have nothing to hide." AJ shook her head as he walked out of the bathroom, "This is ridiculous." _

"_It is ridiculous." Hamilton nodded, "You're right." He said, "But I'd never trust you and Phil as far as I can throw." He told her, walking closer to her, "I'm gonna need to check the girls' rooms too." He nodded as AJ looked up at him._

_On the inside she was screaming, but on the outside, she remained calm. Years of practise with dealing with cops possibly helped._

"_You pig." AJ spat, walking out of her bedroom, opening up Jude's bedroom as Hamilton walked on in._

"_How sweet." Hamilton looked over at Jude who was asleep in her bed._

"_Just hurry it up." AJ spat, watching at the doorway as Hamilton looked around the room._

_He crouched down, looking under Jude's bed as AJ watched nervously, watching him move onto her dresser, opening all the drawers, her stomach beginning to go into knots._

_She then watched as he made his way over to the closet, opening it up and spotting the black bag at the bottom as AJ watched._

_He crouched down and pulled the bag out, unzipping it as he turned to AJ who gulped._

_Hamilton turned back to the bag, fully unzipping the black bag as he looked inside and nodded to himself._

"_Shouldn't these be in the dresser?" Hamilton picked up some of Jude's clothes._

"_We were on vacation. Not had a chance to unpack." AJ said calmly as Hamilton nodded to himself, throwing the bag back into the closet and closing the doors over, walking out of Jude's room as AJ took a deep breath._

"_You finished up here?" Punk got to the top of the stairs, "Your friend is waiting on you downstairs."_

"_One more room." Hamilton said, opening up Thea's room door as Punk looked over at AJ who just nodded to him._

_Hamilton looked around Thea's room the same way he did with Jude, not finding anything of course to his own dismay._

"_You gonna tell us who sent you here?" Punk asked as Hamilton walked out of Thea's room, "I think you owe us that."_

"_I owe you nothing." Hamilton said, "No matter who it was, when I get a report about you two, I best follow it up." He made clear, looking at them both, "Because God knows I know what you're like." He said, looking Punk in the eye._

"_Get out of my house." Punk spat, inching closer towards Hamilton as AJ took his hand._

"_Oh, I'm going." Hamilton nodded, walking down the stairs, "I told you years ago, Phil… you made your bed, you're gonna lie in it." Hamilton spat as he walked down the stairs and left the house with his partner as Punk ran his hands over his face and took a loud breath._

"_Oh my God." AJ took a deep breath, leaning back against the wall as Punk looked over at her. She hadn't been this type of scared since she was a teenager. _

"_Where'd you put it?" Punk asked her as she looked at him, walking back into Jude's room as he followed, watching as she walked over to the bean bag in the corner of the room, turning it around where there was a slash in it, opening it up and showing him as he ran his hand over his hair and nodded._

"Who the fuck is M?" Sam spat, "Did you find out? And why the hell are you still involved in this after two years?" She questioned.

"Calm down." Punk said as she looked at him, "We found out who it was." He nodded.


	16. M

**M**

* * *

"_How do you know this is who it is?" AJ asked, sitting with Punk in the car whilst Dean sat in the back, leaning forward between the seats._

"_Because I just know." Punk nodded._

"_We got a plan?" Dean asked them as Punk shook his head._

"_No… no, we don't have a plan. Just follow my lead." Punk nodded to them both, "You got the bag?" He asked AJ._

"_Yeah." AJ nodded, "It's in the trunk." She said as Punk nodded._

"_Didn't you think Saturday night was a pretty bad night to do this?" Dean asked._

"_No, more people around the better. Means shit isn't gonna go down." Punk nodded, getting out of the car as AJ closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before getting out of the car._

_Punk collected the bag from the trunk, locking the car up as they walked ahead, pushing their way by the crowded street of drunks. Punk lead whilst Dean stayed behind, both of them keeping their eyes on AJ of course._

"_This way." Punk nodded, tugging on AJ's hand as she followed him through the crowd of people, finding their way towards the back and into a dark corridor of some sort._

"_I don't have a good feeling about this." AJ shook her head._

"_I'll do the talking." Punk assured her whilst Dean looked around, spotting a picture on the wall in the corridor, taking the cigarette from his mouth and burning it against the picture as AJ watched._

"_Dean." AJ got his attention as Dean turned to her._

"_What?" Dean shrugged as AJ shook her head._

_They walked down the dark corridor, reaching a door, an office with a name on the door. Punk knocked on the door loudly as Dean scoffed._

"_Are you kidding?" Dean said, "Bust it open." He said._

"_Come in." They heard from inside the office as AJ looked at them both._

_Punk opened up the door, walking on into the office with Dean and AJ on either side of him, walking slowly into the filled room, staring directly at the desk where a dark haired woman sat, holding a glass of whiskey, swirling it around as the ice clattered against the glass._

"_Phil Brooks." Marina smirked as Punk looked across at her. AJ paused for a second as she looked at the woman, realising she recognised her face, for all the wrong reasons. She couldn't forget her face. Her nineteen year old, heartbroken self couldn't forget that face._

"_You've got to be kidding me." AJ whispered to herself whilst Dean looked over with confusion._

_They never knew Rio's wife. They never got the chance to meet her at the wedding, or even see her face. If they did… they would definitely have had a discussion about it._

"_Hi, April." Marina smiled towards AJ who glared across at her._

"_I don't remember you telling me your name was Marina." Punk looked across at her._

"_I don't tell little boys I fuck on the side my real name." Marina smiled as Dean turned to Punk who threw the black bag onto the desk, knocking some things over._

"_Why'd you send us this?" Punk spat._

"_I needed rid of it." Marina shrugged._

"_And we were your first thought?" AJ questioned._

"_Certainly weren't my last." Marina said, "Rio spoke about you all the time. Both of you." She nodded, "He liked you." She pointed to Punk, "Told me you were like… the little brother he always wanted." She nodded._

"_Yeah, well too bad he ruined my life, and a lot of other people's lives, and eventually… his own." Punk nodded as Marina looked at him, "You send anything like this to my house again, I swear-"_

"_You'll what?" Marina questioned, "Beat me?" She smiled._

"_I will." AJ spat, "Long time coming I think." She nodded as Marina smiled, taking a sip of her whiskey._

"_I'm gonna let you three in on a secret." Marina nodded, sitting up, sitting her drink on the desk and clasping her hands together, "This is my family." She said, looking around behind her where a few people were standing, "My brother Paolo, my sisters Jenny and Maria. My cousins." She explained._

"_I'm sorry, I don't think we actually care for any of this." Punk said, "Stay the fuck out of our lives. We're done with this shit." He said, "And you have no reason to need us for anything."_

"_I killed Rio." Marina smiled as Punk looked across at her._

"_What?" AJ shook her head as Punk looked across at Marina._

"_What the hell are you talking about?" Punk spat._

"_Well… I didn't physically kill him… I mean, it was my wedding day." She chuckled, "My brother killed him." She pointed to the butch man standing behind her seat, "My family sit on the throne now. Not Rio's." She smiled as Punk looked across at her._

"_You're telling me you had your own husband killed on your wedding day?" Dean questioned._

"_He was a pig. I didn't want to marry him for him. I married him for this place. This club." Marina smiled, "For his drug business." She nodded, "It's all mine now. It's my kingdom." She nodded as Punk turned to Dean who was staring at Marina._

"_You're crazy." AJ said._

"_Rich coming from you." Marina said as AJ looked across other._

"_Ok, putting the ridiculousness of this to the side for a second… why did you send us those drugs and why did you call the cops?" Punk asked._

"_It was a test." Marina nodded, "Congratulations. You passed." She smiled as Punk turned to AJ, "You managed to hide those drugs in 3 minutes. Carried out like… professionals." She said, "Almost like you know what you're doing." She smiled to Punk._

"_If this is some sort of proposal for recruitment, you don't got yourself any deals." Punk made clear._

"_I don't think you have a choice." Marina smiled as Punk looked at her, "I have an entire case built up for you." She pointed to AJ, "To prove you killed Rio." She nodded as AJ chuckled._

"_Oh, really?" AJ said, "Well, I was at the wedding, I couldn't have killed him." She shook her head as Marina smiled._

"_Maria." Marina turned to her sister, "Go get me Anitta." She nodded as AJ shook her head with confusion._

"_What the fuck are you playing at?" Punk slammed his hands down on her desk as she stood up to match his height, staring him in the eyes fiercely, "You want yourself dealers? Best not ask ones who got caught by the cops." He advised._

"_No, you two are perfect." Marina nodded, "The quote on quote, changed April Mendez and Phil Brooks. Married. Mundane jobs. Cute little gremlin children." Marina nodded, "To everyone else, you guys have moved on." She said, "Plus, I think as Rio's dying wish he would have loved to see his so called little brother, fill his shoes that he knew you wear too damn well." Marina hissed as Punk glared at her._

"_You're poking the wrong people." Punk warned._

"_No, I got the right people." Marina said as the office door opened back up as AJ watched Anitta, an old friend who she remembered speaking to at Rio's wedding in the bathroom, walking into the office._

"_April." Anitta shook her head, walking over to the desk as AJ looked at her. She could tell by how Anitta was dressed that she was bar attending for the club._

"_Anitta." Marina smiled, "What did April tell you the night of Rio's wedding? Hours before his death?" Marina asked, sitting back down behind the desk as Anitta looked over at Punk and AJ, particularly AJ who was shaking her head, "Anitta." Marina hummed, opening up the top drawer as Anitta looked in at the gun sitting._

"_She told me she wanted to kill Rio." Anitta nodded as AJ narrowed her brows._

"_You bitch." AJ whispered._

"_And what else?" Marina smiled._

"_That she wanted to kill him that night." Anitta nodded._

"_And?" Marina asked._

"_She had a gun with her." Anitta nodded._

"_Oh, please." AJ shook her head, "Like anyone will believe that. It's been years since Rio died." She said, "And let's be honest, the cops really don't care about that case. They were glad Rio was dead-"_

"_They'll care when someone reports you as the murderer." Marina said, "Especially to your friend… what's his name? Hamilton?" Marina smiled, "I mean, we have a witness, I still have the murder weapon… I will put that shit on you." She warned AJ, standing up, "And you'll be gone. Your children won't have mommy tucking them into bed at night anymore. You're finished, April." Marina nodded as AJ looked across at her._

"_I will kill you." AJ glared across at her._

"_No you won't." Marina said calmly, "Or… you could help me. Like you helped Rio." She said, "Only difference is, I won't fuck it up for you." She made clear, "And I won't try and rape you." She looked across at AJ._

"_Why are you doing this to us? We don't want this anymore? We moved on." AJ shook her head._

"_You don't move on from this life." Marina smiled, "You just get better at ignoring it." She nodded, "I need good people like you to store some things for me. Nothing heavy. Just a little bit moving around." She nodded, "I saw how Rio trusted you." She looked at Punk, "I need that."_

"_You ain't getting it." Punk spat._

"_Then kiss your wife goodbye." Marina nodded, "I'm sure you can tell her how fun prison cells are." She said, "I am not making an empty threat her, I will have her ass thrown in prison just like that." She snapped her fingers as Punk ran his hands through his hair and shook his head angrily._

"_I… I think I miss Rio." Dean admitted truthfully as Marina smiled._

"_Hey, I'm giving you the choice. Rio wouldn't have." She said as Punk turned to AJ who looked up at him.._

"_What the hell is your agenda?" AJ spat._

"_I don't have one." Marina shook her head, "I wanted this business to myself. I got it. If I want you put in prison, I'll get that too." She said, "Unless you help me. I need good, clean people like you. Cancels out the wickedness, don't you think?" She asked, lighting up a cigarette._

"_We have kids." Punk said._

"_Makes no difference to me." Marina shook her head._

"_We're not… we're not fucking doing this!" Punk yelled angrily, "Who the fuck do you think you are?!" He yelled, stepping forward._

"_We'll do it." AJ said as Punk turned to her._

"_What?" Punk looked at AJ, "What?!"_

"_Wise choice." Marina nodded, "I've been to prison. Not fun." Marina said as AJ looked at Punk who was shaking his head as Marina got up from the desk, walking around and walking towards AJ, "Welcome-"_

_Before Marina could finish, AJ grabbed her around the throat, slamming her over into the cabinets. Punk and Dean watched as Marina's brother began to move, rethinking when he saw Punk and Dean stand in front of AJ._

"_You screw us over, you fuck with us… it won't be Rio's death they'll be imprisoning me for." AJ spat, tightening her grip around Marina's neck, "I will fuck you up." She spat as Marina choked, trying to remove AJ's hand from around her neck, "Find our number and call us." AJ nodded, dropping Marina's neck and stepping back as Marina leaned against the cabinet, holding her neck._

"_Let's get out of here." Dean suggested as Punk nodded, taking AJ's hand, watching as she walked back up to Marina and punched her across the face._

"_That's for sleeping with my boyfriend." AJ whispered in Marina's ear, for only her to hear as Punk and Dean pulled her away and left the office._


	17. Working On It

**Working On It**

* * *

"_What the hell did you do that for?" Punk spat, walking out of the club with AJ and Dean, heading towards their car which was parked a little further away in a quieter car park._

"_Don't speak to me." AJ warned him._

"_Are you serious right now?" Punk questioned, following behind her like a lost puppy whilst Dean lit up a cigarette and wandered behind, "We are not… I am not going down this road again. No way." He said, "I lost everything last time-"_

"_We'll get out of it." AJ scoffed frantically._

"_No, April. We won't. Especially not with her." Punk said as AJ turned to him._

"_Back off from me right now." She warned him as he looked at her, "The last time I saw that woman's face, you were on top of her and my life was at its lowest." She said, "Back up." She said as calm as she possibly could as Punk looked at her._

"_I didn't know that was her. She didn't… that wasn't her name, she didn't give me her name." He realised, "I never knew that was who Rio was marrying." Punk said._

"_Or you just didn't want to tell me?" AJ asked him._

"_No, seriously… I didn't." Punk said._

"_She fucking killed him." AJ said, "On their wedding day. You have any idea how fucked up that is?" She shook her head, reaching their car as AJ placed her hands on the hood of the car, "She killed him and took over as him, and now we're involved." She whispered to herself as Punk looked over at her._

"_We can get out of it." Punk said, "Prove that… that she killed Rio. If we get rid of her, we get rid of the problem we have-"_

"_She knows what she's doing, Phil." AJ shook her head, "And if she finds out we're trying to get her sent down, she'll send me down instead." AJ said, "She has the perfect plan. She's gonna frame me and I will end up prison." She shook her head._

"_That's not gonna happen." Punk said._

"_You don't know that." AJ spat, "See this… this is why you don't get involved in this shit." She slammed her hands against the car, "My dad told me once you make a deal with Rio, you're in it for life." She said as Punk watched her, "We are never getting out of this." She said, turning around and looking at both of them._

"_Calm down." Dean assured her._

"_No, it's true. We're not. It's what we deserve. What did we expect?" AJ shook her head._

"_We were dumb kids then." Punk said, "Homeless. Alone. Young. It happens. It doesn't mean we're sentenced to it for life." He said, "She's just using the fact we're actually half decent people now-"_

"_I'm gonna end up in prison." AJ placed her hands in her hair._

"_April, you're not gonna end up in prison. Trust me." Punk said seriously._

"_I don't want you dealing!" AJ yelled, "You'll lose it. Just like last time. We have two children. It's not right." AJ said._

"_We'll figure out a short term plan." Punk said, "Just for now." He said, turning to Dean who nodded in agreement._

"_April, it'll be fine." Dean agreed, "That bitch is gonna crumble."_

"_She's got her whole family working for her. We're gonna end up in prison or we're gonna end up dead." AJ said, "This is so much worse than Rio." She whispered to herself, placing her hand over her mouth._

_Her stomach was in knots. She didn't know how to feel. They left this life behind a long time ago, with no intentions of living in it again. It was all happening too fast. _

"_At least we knew Rio." Dean nodded, "We knew how he worked, what he liked and didn't like, how he reacted to things." Dean said, "I don't even know where to start with that bitch in there."_

"_Ask Phil, he might know." AJ turned to Punk, "He got to know her pretty well."_

"_Stop it." Punk shook his head, "For now we just gotta do what she asks, keep our heads down, whilst we think of an alternative."_

"_Once we're in, we're in." Dean said to Punk, "You know that, better than anyone."_

"_I don't want you dealing." AJ pointed to Punk, "Me and Dean will do it. You… you gotta stay out of it." She said._

"_I'm not letting you guys do it on your own." Punk shook his head, "No way."_

"_You guys can't have drugs in the house." Dean said, "Not with the girls around. I ain't taking any shit home with me." He made clear._

"_Where do you suggest we put it?" AJ questioned._

"_This is insane." Punk ran his hands through his hair. _

_He felt like a drug addict who was about to relapse. That was the only way he could describe it. Things were going so well, so good for them. They'd moved on from their pasts, and yet, it was still there at the roots, ready to grow and grab them back in._

"_This isn't going to be long-term." AJ said, "We just gotta do it until we can figure something out." She said as Dean nodded, "I don't want you dealing. Ok?" She looked at Punk who looked across at her._

"_I… I kinda agree with her." Dean nodded to Punk who ran his hand over his face._

"_Give me this." AJ said, taking the cigarette from Dean for herself, needing a quick something to get to her head, to calm herself down._

"_This is bullshit." Punk shook his head, "Fucking bullshit!" He yelled angrily._

* * *

"April didn't want me dealing in case I got too involved again. Like before. Like I lost it." Punk explained to his mother who sat listening, "I was too proud to admit it but… I agreed with her, I was scared for myself, scared that I would… I'd end up like last time."

"Sound like a drug addict." Sam nodded.

"Honestly, it's probably pretty similar." Punk said, "So at first, her and Dean took care of it. They did the moves. We figured that our old apartment was pretty much untouched. The place was rotting, no one was gonna move in at any point, so we used that as our… our hiding spot, I guess." He said as Sam nodded.

"Well how come I saw you at the apartment the other day? If it's just April and Dean that's dealing?" Sam asked.

"There was a… a bust up one night. Close call." Punk said, "April got a little bloody and I flipped out. Told her that I wasn't sitting back any more. That I was helping. She took the help. And since she's pregnant now I managed to convince her to let me deal with it-"

"And have you lost your mind yet?" Sam questioned.

"No. Honestly, it's not like last time. I got this anxiety about the whole thing. I don't sleep anymore. It's ruining my fucking life, if I'm being honest." He said, "It's not pulling me in like it did before, like April was worried it would… and she knows that." He nodded.

"And somehow… it's been two years? And you still haven't got out of it?" Sam asked.

"Well it's not as easy as you'd think, mom. Ok, you're used to just paying for the drugs. It's a whole different world when you're behind that." Punk said.

"Yeah and it's people like you that are the reason I am like this." Sam nodded.

"Excuse me?" Punk spat.

"Well it's true. If there wasn't no dealers, there would be no addicts." Sam spat, "I mean, you're killing people… you're ruining their lives." She said, "What if that was your Thea? Or Jude? When they're older and they're getting offered drugs?"

"Don't go there with me." Punk said.

"You're behind that. You are the system." Sam spat.

"Do you think we like doing this?" Punk spat, "We have no choice. She's got us by the fucking balls. We can't risk pissing her off. She's got a legitimate case built up for AJ. A believable one." He said, "I am not risking my wife going to prison for life." He made clear as Sam looked across at him.

"So you're just gonna deal drugs for the rest of your life?" Sam asked, "What happens when the girls get older? They start asking more questions? Putting pieces together and figuring out mommy and daddy are exactly what they're trying to protect them from." She said.

"Since when do you are about my girls?" Punk shook his head.

"I care about them, more than you know." Sam spat.

"We're working on something." Punk told her, "To get rid of Marina. To get rid of the whole thing. But we have to be careful." He said, "Before… with Rio, I could tell what he was thinking, I knew what his moves would be… I don't got that anymore. This woman is as deep as the fucking ocean." Punk said.

"I'm sure she is." Sam looked at him, "Must be hard for April, seeing the woman you cheated on her with, whilst she was pregnant-"

"Oh, yeah… I forgot you were perfect." Punk nodded as Sam scoffed, grabbing her bottle of wine and topping her glass up, "Look, I came and told you so I could clear it up. April wanted you to know. But you gotta keep your mouth shut." He said as Sam looked across at him.

"Fix this." Sam said, "Sooner rather than later." She suggested.

"Yeah, well I'm trying, mom." Punk sighed to himself.

* * *

Punk got home later that night after spending a long time at his mom's house. It felt like a relief to tell her what was actually going on, but hearing her disapproval made it worse. Even though he didn't take much of what his mom said to heart, it hurt because he knew she was right. He was especially thinking about his daughters.

"Daddy!" Jude ran downstairs in her pjs, jumping down the final stair and running to him.

"Hey, monkey." Punk smiled, lifting her up and squeezing her.

"Daddy you were gone a long time." Jude said as Punk nodded.

"I was. I got caught up at Uncle Dean's house." Punk told her.

"Bad Dee. Trying to steal you." Jude frowned, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly as Punk smiled, walking through to the living room where AJ was sitting with Thea watching TV and sharing some popcorn.

"Hey." AJ smiled, "You took your time." She said curiously.

"Dee tried stealing him!" Jude exclaimed as AJ chuckled a little and nodded, "But we would have rescued you, daddy." She patted her father's face.

"Well that's always good to know." Punk smiled, kissing her head and putting her down, "Why aren't you girls in bed?" He wondered.

"We have a snow day tomorrow." Thea said.

"Seriously?" Punk scoffed, "The roads aren't even that bad." Punk said.

"The forecast has to be pretty bad overnight." AJ said, "And the new school policy is that they decide the night before, not the morning of, so that it's easier for parents. Which I think is a good idea." AJ nodded to herself.

"Do you get a snow day too?" Punk asked his wife.

"Oh, definitely." AJ said, "I can work from home, it's all good." She said, "What about you? Won't the docks be a nightmare."

"Yeah, that's why I'll need to go." Punk laughed a little as AJ nodded.

They'd gotten very good at ignoring their problem. They mostly did it for the girls, they didn't want any sort of atmosphere around them. They knew it wasn't good, and they were working on it every day, but it was a lot harder to think of a way out, compared to doing it.

"So you're telling me whilst I'm out in the freezing cold snow busting my butt off, you guys are sitting here drinking hot chocolate and watching movies?" Punk folded his arms.

"Yes." All three of them answered at the same time as Punk laughed to himself.

"Daddy I'll build a snowman for you." Jude said kindly as Punk smiled.

"Thanks, baby." Punk smiled, walking over and sitting down beside AJ, wrapping his arm around her as she leaned into him.

"You ok?" She asked him quietly, placing her hand on his leg.

"Yeah, all good." Punk said, kissing the side of her head.

"Woah." AJ jumped a little as Punk turned to her, watching as she had her hands on her stomach.

"What? What's wrong?" He asked her.

"It's kicking." AJ smiled, "That's the first it's kicked." AJ said, taking his hand and placing it over her little bump as Punk raised his eyebrows, feeling the baby kicking and smiling.

"There it goes." Punk smiled.

"Let me feel." Jude said, climbing over Thea.

"Jude." Thea scoffed, shoving her sister as she was trying to watch the TV.

"Here, put your hand here." AJ took Jude's hand, placing it on her stomach, "You feel it?" She asked as Jude giggled and nodded, "Cool, huh?"

"Yes." Jude nodded excitedly.

"Thea, you wanna feel?" AJ asked as Thea shook her head, uninterested as AJ just scoffed.

"Please be a boy." Jude said, hugging around AJ's bump as AJ chuckled, "I don't want another sister." She said desperately, kicking Thea behind her.

"Quit it." Thea snapped whilst AJ and Punk just shook their heads.

"It still feels like the first time." AJ shook her head, looking up at Punk who nodded.

"Yeah, I know." He agreed, kissing her sweetly.


	18. Kind Acts

**Kind Acts**

* * *

"Girls, come in and get your hot chocolate." AJ said, walking outside to the front of the house where Thea and Jude were making a snowman, "It'll get cold." She said, standing at the doorstep as she watched them come away from the snowman.

"I'm coming!" Jude exclaimed as Thea ran past her and pushed her over into the snow as she fell on her back.

"Thea." AJ scoffed as Thea chuckled to herself and ran into the house.

"Mommy, I'm stuck in the snow." Jude said as AJ couldn't help laugh a little.

"I'll help you." AJ nodded, stepping outside and wandering over, helping her baby up out of the pile of snow she'd fell into. All of them were wrapped up in hats, scarfs and big coats of course.

"Thanks." Jude scoffed.

"She's a bad girl." AJ nodded, dusting the snow off of Jude's coat.

"She is." Jude nodded, "When I get taller I will get her back." Jude vowed as AJ smiled.

"Of course you will." AJ nodded, leaning down and kissing her head sweetly, "Let's go get some hot chocolate." She nodded, taking Jude's hand and walking on into the house, taking their boots off at the door and walking on through to the kitchen where Thea was already having her hot chocolate and cookies."

"You got out?" Thea smiled to Jude who just scolded at her sister.

"Yes, mommy helped me." Jude said, sitting up at the table.

"Ok, baby watch it'll be really warm." AJ said as Jude nodded, taking her gloves off, "Maybe after this you guys could go sledging around the corner at the hill." AJ nodded, "That'd be fun."

"We need to finish the snow woman." Jude said.

"It's a woman?" AJ questioned.

"Well why does it have to be a man?" Thea questioned as AJ nodded to herself.

"Well it doesn't. You're right." AJ nodded, "You get another snow day tomorrow, by the way." She told them both.

"Oh, I miss my friends." Jude frowned.

"You're so weird." Thea shook her head, "You get another day off."

"But I miss my friends." Jude said.

"That's sweet, baby." AJ smiled, cupping her daughter's cheek, "I wonder how your dad is doing at work. Weather conditions like this are really tough for them down there." AJ said.

"Will he be ok?" Jude asked worriedly.

"Oh, he'll be fine. As long as the snow goes off at some point." AJ shook her head.

"No, I want it on forever so I don't have to go back to school." Thea smiled.

"I thought you liked school?" AJ shook her head.

"Sometimes." Thea shrugged, "Mostly not. People can be really mean."

"What do you mean by that?" AJ asked suspiciously as Thea shrugged.

"Bullies." Jude piped up.

"What the hell do you know about bullies? You don't know your two times table." Thea scoffed.

"I do too." Jude scoffed, "Some of it."

"Is someone bullying you?" AJ shook her head, looking at Thea. There was nothing she couldn't talk about with her girls.

"What? No… no, not me." Thea said, "No, just in general. People can be really mean." She said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, that's life, baby." AJ nodded.

"I'm not mean." Jude said as AJ nodded.

"Of course you're not, angel." AJ smiled.

"Ok, I'm done with my hot chocolate." Jude said, jumping off the chair.

"You barely drank much." AJ laughed.

"I've had enough." Jude said, running away to go play in the snow again.

"Hey." AJ turned to Thea who was finishing her cookie, "You know you can talk to me about absolutely anything." AJ said as Thea nodded.

"Yeah, I know." Thea smiled, "I'm uh… I'm gonna go finish this snow woman." She said, "And maybe I'll… I'll take Jude sledging at the hill."

"You're the best big sis." AJ smiled as Thea nodded, leaving the kitchen and heading out of the house.

* * *

Thea helped Jude finish her snow woman and then eventually took her around to the hill not far away from their house to go sledging. Jude wasn't allowed to go without her sister or a parent, so Thea figured she'd do her kind deed for the day and take her little sister sledging.

"Maybe we'll go back later." Thea said, taking Jude's hand as she saw Jackson and what appeared to be his little brother, playing on the hill.

"But why?" Jude frowned, "We're already here." She said.

"Someone is already there." Thea shrugged.

"Thea, it's a big hill." Jude said sassily, "We'll all fit." She smiled, holding her sledge.

"No, we can come back later-"

"Thea!" Jackson called over as Thea groaned, looking down at Jude.

"This is your fault." She hissed at Jude who just smiled, running over to the hill, not being able to wait to sledge down it.

"Hey." Thea nodded, walking over as Jackson smiled.

"Sucks being the older one, right?" Jackson asked, "I had to get my little brother out the house he was driving me crazy."

"Yeah, well… Jude tends to drive me crazy all the time." Thea nodded.

"She's… funny." Jackson laughed, watching as Jude was sledging down the hill on her stomach.

"Insane more like." Thea rolled her eyes, "I swear my mom and dad bought her from a flea market or something." She said as Jackson chuckled.

"Harsh." Jackson nodded.

"But possible." Thea said.

"I didn't know you even lived around here." Jackson said.

"Yeah just down there." Thea pointed, "You live here too?"

"No, you kidding?" Jackson laughed, "This is where the rich people live." He nodded.

"My family aren't rich." Thea assured her.

"I live in Englewood. You probably wouldn't-"

"I know where it is." Thea nodded, "My gran… you know, the one you met the other day? She lives there."

"I swear I thought that was your mom. She's so young for a gran." Jackson shook his head.

"Yeah well, she had my dad young and my dad had me young so..." Thea shrugged.

"She seems…"

"Yeah, there hasn't been a word invented yet to describe her." Thea agreed as Jackson smiled, "But she's cool. I like hanging out with her."

"Family is important." Jackson said as Thea nodded.

"Ok, I kinda wanna sledge this hill." Thea admitted, "You can… stand and watch or race me if you dare." She smiled, running up to the top of the hill as Jackson watched with a smile.

"Right to the top?!" Jackson called, smiling upon her daring side.

"That's where I'm going!" Thea called excitedly, making her way up to the very top of the hill as Jackson smiled.

"Thea, be careful!" Jude yelled worriedly as Jackson laughed to himself.

* * *

Punk was on his way home from work, driving into the street slowly due to all the snow. He'd never been so cold in his entire career. He couldn't wait to get home in front of the fire.

He turned the corner in the car, noticing people over by the large grassy hill they had by their house, suddenly noticing it was his own children. He slowed the car down, bringing it to halt when he saw Thea on a sledge with some other boy. A boy who definitely looked older than her.

He got out of the car, grabbing a ball of snow and launching it over, aiming for the boy she was on the sledge with but unfortunately striking Thea right on the face.

"Shit." Punk panicked, watching Thea turn around.

"Dad! What the hell?" Thea scoffed, wiping her face, shocked that she was just smacked on the face with a snowball by her own father.

"I think that was for me." Jackson admitted, getting off the sledge immediately.

"Hey." Punk played it cool, "You guys look like you're having fun." He smiled, strictly speaking to his daughters.

"Hi daddy!" Jude exclaimed as Punk walked on over to them.

"Hey, baby." Punk smiled, "You having fun?"

"Yes!" Jude yelled.

"Does mom know you're over here?" Punk asked as Thea nodded, noticing her father kept looking over at Jackson who had excused himself to go play with his little brother.

"Yeah, she does." Thea said.

"Well it's almost six o'clock, why don't you guys head back? Dinner will be ready." He nodded.

"We're having fun." Thea shrugged as Punk looked at her.

"I am tired." Jude admitted truthfully. She was all sledged out.

"Come on, mom will have dinner ready soon." Punk nodded, "The snow will still be here tomorrow." He said. Hadn't he been so concentrated on the young boy who was standing around, he would have relished in seeing how much fun his oldest daughter was having.

"Fine." Thea shook her head, "Come on, Jude." She said, taking her sister's hand and walking off whilst Punk looked over at Jackson.

Punk waited until Thea was far away before turning back around to Jackson, "Hey, come here, kid." Punk nodded to him as Jackson looked over.

"Yeah?" Jackson walked over.

"What age are you?" Punk asked.

"I'm sixteen." Jackson said.

"And you know my daughter how?" Punk shook his head.

"She's in my math class. She's in the grade above for math. She's in my class." Jackson said.

"She's thirteen." Punk said as Jackson nodded.

"I know that." Jackson said, "We… we were just hanging out." He said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah… yeah, ok, kid." Punk nodded to him, about to get back in his car.

"Uh… Mr Mendez." Jackson said as Punk turned around.

"That's not my name." Punk said firstly, turning back around.

"Oh, I… Thea has-"

"She's got her mom's name." Punk nodded, "Plus you don't gotta call me mister anything." Punk assured him.

"Yeah, well I just want to say your daughter is a really good person." Jackson nodded as Punk looked across at him, "I uh… I don't have… me and my little brother don't have the best home life." He said as Punk looked across at him, "There's been some really embarrassing times in school where I've… I've not had lunch or… I've not got money to get lunch… Thea took notice and helped me." He said as Punk nodded to himself.

"She did?" Punk questioned.

"Yeah." Jackson said, "Yeah. And I mean there's been times people have been talking, you know… about where I come from, she… she's not shy to stick up for me and I… I appreciate that a lot." He said, "Not a lot of people are like her." He said as Punk nodded.

It warmed his heart to hear this kind of thing. He knew Thea was a good kid, but hearing it from another person just meant that much more. Even if it was a young boy he was suspicious about. It didn't hurt to hear such nice things.

"Where you from?" Punk asked him.

"Englewood." Jackson nodded, "I uh… me and my little brother live in a house with our mom but she's… she's never really there." He said as Punk nodded slowly. It was like he was staring at a younger version of himself, "I'm sorry I just wanted you to know how good Thea is."

"Well I appreciate that." Punk said, "I do." He said as Jackson nodded.

"I uh… I better get my little brother home." Jackson nodded.

"Yeah, of course." Punk nodded, watching as he collected his little brother, standing by his car as he watched as they began to walk away, "Hey, kid!" Punk called as Jackson turned around, "It gets better." Punk assured him before getting back into the car as Jackson smiled.

Punk eventually got home, parking the car up and heading inside, thankful for some heat finally after a cold and wintery day at work.

"Hey, you." AJ smiled, walking downstairs.

"Hey." Punk smiled, "How are you?"

"I'm good." AJ nodded, "How are you? How was your day?" She asked, rubbing his cold cheeks and frowning, "You're so cold."

"Yeah, it was a tough shift." Punk laughed to himself, "I take it you weren't out building the snowman outside?" He asked her.

"Snow woman, actually. According to Thea it doesn't have to be a man." AJ said as Punk nodded to himself.

"Where is Thea?" Punk asked her.

"They're having dinner." AJ said, "She actually took her sister to go sledging. Thea actually did something for someone else. A miracle." She teased as Punk nodded.

"Hey, she's… she's a really good kid." Punk nodded to her.

"Oh, I know she is." AJ smiled.

"You know, it was so nice to seeing kids actually playing outside and having fun." Punk nodded to her, "You don't see that anymore. I saw so many kids out playing on my way home."

"Yeah, kids love the snow." AJ said, "I've ran a bath so… can you make sure they finish dinner? Go get yourself some too. Get in front of that fire." She said, rubbing his body up and down as he laughed.

"I will." Punk nodded, "You go get your bath." He said, kissing her sweetly as she smiled and nodded, heading on upstairs as Punk made his way through to the kitchen, looking over at Thea who was having her dinner.

Hearing what simple kind acts meant to people who needed it the most really put things into perspective. Knowing his daughter had decency and kindness in her, even at an early age, it made him beam with pride.

"Daddy, have dinner with us." Jude told him.

"I will." Punk nodded, getting himself dinner and sitting down beside Thea, leaning beside and kissing her head as Thea raised her brows with suspicion but chose not to say anything, "You guys have fun today?" He asked, wanting to know all about their day, it was the best part of his day.


	19. Spotted

**Spotted**

* * *

"You got everything?" AJ asked, coming downstairs later on in the night, "I can go if you like-"

"No, just… just stay with the girls." Punk nodded, "I'll be fine. You get to bed." He said as she nodded.

"Don't be long. In and out." AJ said as Punk nodded, "Do you think she'll be there?"

"I don't know, and I don't care." Punk said truthfully.

"Just remember what… what we're working towards." AJ said, zipping his hoodie up for him as Punk sighed to himself, "It's gonna end… soon." She nodded.

"It has to." Punk said, "It's been too long already." Punk shook his head as AJ nodded.

"It's not like we've had a choice." AJ said, "She's the devil, I swear."

"Worse." Punk shook his head, "Don't… don't wait up for me. You get your rest." He said, tucking her hair behind her ear as she nodded.

"Ok." AJ said, "I can barely sleep when you're not here." She reminded him, "I might make myself some tea and take it upstairs." She nodded.

"Yeah, do that." Punk nodded, "The girls both sleeping?" He asked her.

"Yeah, sound asleep." AJ said, "I hate that you're doing this." She sighed, "I hate myself for… seeing you do this-"

"I'm ok." Punk nodded, "It's not like last time." He assured her as she nodded.

"It'll be over soon." She shook her head, "I just keep telling myself that."

"It will be." Punk nodded, leaning in and kissing her softly as she cupped his cheeks sweetly and kissed back before pulling away, "And this little one." He said, crouching down and kissing her stomach as AJ smiled.

"No longer kicking me like earlier." AJ nodded.

"Good, maybe it'll let you get some sleep then." Punk smiled as AJ nodded.

"Yeah." AJ said, "You be careful." She pinched his chin as he nodded, opening up the door as she watched him head into the car, closing it behind her whilst her usual worrying spell of the month was placed upon her.

* * *

"Your sister in?" Punk asked, standing outside at the back of the club where Paolo, Marina's sister was standing.

"In her office." Paolo said as Punk walked on in, holding some boxes as he made his way through the back of the club towards the office where the she devil carried out her work.

"My favourite face." Marina smiled as Punk kicked the door open, holding the heavy box as he walked over and dumped it down.

"I got another six of these." Punk told her as Marina nodded.

"And the others?" Marina asked him.

"Dean moved them to the storage unit." Punk said as Marina nodded.

"Ok, same exact drill next week." Marina nodded to him as Punk let the large box go, the sound of it crashing onto the ground causing a scene as Marina looked up.

"You're bullshitting me now." Punk said, "The agreement was once a month, we did a move for you. Now you're pushing it." He warned her.

"Well I can trust you." Marina shrugged, "Is that such a bad thing?"

"Maybe you shouldn't trust me." Punk nodded as Marina looked across at him.

"Why are you denying yourself of this?" Marina laughed to herself, "I mean you're… you're so damn good at it."

"How can you be good at something like this?" Punk shook his head.

"You know how." Marina nodded, "You're smart. Brave. Loyal." She said, "That's how you're good at this." She nodded as Punk shook his head.

"No, I wanna be at home with my wife right now. I want to know my kids are safe. I don't want this life-"

"Yeah well I assume you don't want your wife in prison either. Pick one." Marina shrugged.

"You're a fucking bitch." Punk shook his head.

"Don't I already know." Marina nodded, "Bring in the other boxes." She told him as Punk glared across at her.

"I'm not… I'm not doing this every week for you. Once a month was bad enough." He said as Marina looked at him.

"Then your wife goes to prison." Marina said calmly, "And if you think male penitentiaries are bad…" She laughed to herself, "Women are so much dirtier." She assured him, "And I would figure with April being pregnant and all… she'd be quite the target." Marina nodded as Punk looked across at her.

"Fuck you." Punk shook his head.

"You already did." She made a kissing face at him as he shook his head, leaving the office and walking back outside to the back of the club to unload more of the boxes into the club. It was the most miserable thing he'd ever had to do. It was draining him. Affecting him mentally and physically.

When he was a kid, he had nothing to lose, he was full of free-spirit, a ride or die attitude. This just felt like torture now.

He was grabbing the last box from the trunk of his car, closing the trunk over when he noticed someone down the side road. He looked over, watching as the kid turned around, noticing him.

"Shit." Punk said worriedly, watching the kid from the other day, Jackson, looking over at him. Punk could see he was in the middle of getting his fix, whilst Jackson looked at him with confusion. Confusion as to why he was unloading boxes into the back of the club at this time of night.

"Fucking hell." Punk shook his head, hurrying his way back into the club and into Marina's office, "You know there's a sixteen year old kid shooting up around the side of the building?" Punk spat.

"No, I didn't. Thank you for informing me." Marina said, unbothered.

"You're selling to kids?" Punk questioned.

"I sell to money." Marina shook her head, "Kids will be kids-"

"He's sixteen." Punk spat.

"So he's old enough to realise what he's doing. Perfect." Marina smiled, "You're done here. Thank you." She smiled as Punk shook his head.

"Here. Keys to the storage unit." He said, tossing the keys over onto her desk before leaving the office and heading back to his car.

When he got outside, he turned back to where Jackson was standing and noticed he had disappeared.

"Fuck." Punk leaned his arms over the top of the car.

"Get out of here." Paolo told him.

"Shut the fuck up." Punk spat angrily as Paolo looked at him, "Do you know that kid that was there? Does he come here regularly?" Punk asked him.

"Yeah. His mom sends him." Paolo nodded, "Guess he shoots up himself."

"And you fucking stand here and watch him?" Punk shook his head as Paolo shrugged.

"You can't pick and choose who you wanna help." Paolo laughed, "Out of here with the concerned bullshit. Just worry about you and yours and not some… junkie kid." He shook his head as Punk glared at him.

"Fuck you." Punk shook his head, "Fucking asshole." Punk scoffed, getting into his car.

"Always a pleasure, Brooks." Paolo nodded, watching as Punk drove off.

"Hey!" Jackson called from behind the dumpster, coming out from hiding as Paolo looked over.

"Go home, kid. You got your shit." Paolo said.

"What was that guy doing here?" Jackson asked, walking over.

"What's it to you?" Paolo questioned.

"I just wanna know." Jackson nodded.

"He's just a dealer." Paolo shrugged as Jackson shook his head with confusion, "Get out of here." He suggested, walking back into the club as Jackson stood still with confusion.

* * *

AJ woke up later that night, turning around in bed as she noticed the space beside her was empty. Worried, she got out of bed and wandered over to the bedroom window, noticing the car was in the driveway.

She made her way downstairs, wrapping her sweater around her as she walked through to the living room, pausing when she saw Punk sitting on the couch, his hands over his face, watching with sadness as he appeared to be drying his tears.

"Phil." AJ said softly as Punk jumped a little, quickly wiping his eyes and nose as he turned to her.

"Hey." Punk nodded as AJ walked into the living room slowly, "Why uh… why aren't you in bed?" Punk asked, a lump caught in the back of his throat as AJ watched him.

"What's wrong?" AJ asked, "What happened?" She walked over, sitting down beside him and placing her hand on his back softly. She immediately thought something had happened tonight.

"Nothing happened." Punk shook his head, taking a deep breath, "I'm just… I'm tired." He rubbed his forehead, "And I'm sick of this." He said, as though in physical pain.

"Phil." AJ shook her head.

"How many lives do you think we've ruined?" Punk turned to her, "Or killed…" He raised his eyebrows as AJ looked at him, "Because we have. We're part of it."

"Phil, you can't-"

"I hate myself." Punk looked at her, "I watched my mom do her drugs since I was a kid and I… I never hated her for it. I hated the people who gave her that choice." He said, "I hated people like me." He said.

"I know… I know, but this… this is different-"

"It's not." Punk shook his head, "It's the same outcome." He said as AJ looked at him, "I feel like I can't breathe." He admitted as AJ watched him.

She'd saw him cry plenty of times, but she'd never quite seen the stress in his eyes like she did right now. The helplessness. The sadness.

"Phil, it's gonna be ok." AJ shook her head, "Baby, it's gonna be fine." She said, rubbing his back softly, kissing his shoulder, "Please… it's gonna be fine-"

"It doesn't feel like it's gonna be fine." He looked at her.

"Baby." AJ sighed, cupping his cheek before wrapping her arms around him. There had been plenty of times where he had been there for her. He had been the shoulder she needed to cry on, and it always worked both ways. It was the most important part of their relationship. Just being there. But she couldn't help feel overwhelming worry and dread as she saw the desperation in his face. Like he'd truly hit a breaking point.

* * *

"Did his lazy ass sleep in?" Dean asked the next morning, standing at the door as AJ looked at him.

"He's not feeling good." AJ nodded.

"Oh." Dean nodded slowly, "He's… he's alright, right?" Dean asked, "Cause I know he was dropping off-"

"Yeah, no… that went fine." AJ nodded, "I think he's coming down with something. The flu. He's still in bed." AJ said as Dean nodded.

"Oh, ok." Dean said, "Well give him a hug from me. I'll text him later and see how he's doing."

"Ok." AJ smiled and nodded, "Thanks, Dean." She said as Dean nodded, walking off to his car as AJ closed the door over.

She headed upstairs and into their bedroom, looking on at Punk fast asleep in their bed. She'd gotten up early and taken the girls to school. Her husband, after hearing his alarm go off, for the first time in his life, switched it off and closed his eyes back over. And that… that worried her.

"Can hear his big loud voice from three fucking streets away." Punk shook his head, his eyes still closed as AJ smiled a little, lying down in the bed beside him.

"He was just checking in. Thought you'd slept in." AJ said.

"What'd you tell him?" Punk asked her.

"That you weren't feeling good. Coming down with something." AJ nodded.

"Ok." Punk nodded.

"You wanna talk about it?" AJ asked him.

"About what?" Punk asked her.

"How you feel?" AJ asked him, "How you feel right now?" She questioned, tucking a strand of his hair behind his ear.

"How I feel like a piece of shit? Not really." Punk admitted.

"Phil… you are not… this isn't your choice-"

"My choices lead me here." Punk said, "I chose to do this when I was a kid. This is why I'm… we're dragged into this. Hamilton was right when he said I made my bed and now I'm lying in it." He said.

"No… no, he wasn't." AJ said, "It's not like we want to do this. It's not like we even have a choice." She said, "We're gonna take that bitch down."

"When? In another two years?" Punk asked.

"Well you know it's not as easy-"

"Yeah, April I know." Punk rolled his eyes.

"Please don't push me away." AJ shook her head. She could sense how shut off he was. She had known him since she was sixteen. She knew all his quirks, his moods and his signs.

"I'm not I just… I wanna sleep." He nodded to her as she looked at him.

"Ok." AJ sighed, "Ok… well, do you need anything?"

"No, I'm good." Punk nodded, pulling the duvet over him, almost completely covering his head as she watched. It was like he was trying to hide, and that scared her.

* * *

"Hey, Thea!" Jackson called, running over to Thea who was standing at her locker.

"Hi." Thea shook her head with confusion.

"Hey." Jackson nodded, "How was… your weekend?" He smiled.

"It was ok." Thea nodded, "Yours?"

"Yeah… same as every other weekend." Jackson nodded, "Shame the snow had to start melting."

"I know, right? Although my little sister is super glad she's back at school. I told you… fleamarket." Thea nodded as Jackson chuckled.

"To be fair, school for her is like… finger painting and a ton of recess. I'd be glad to go back to that too." Jackson nodded.

"Well that is true." Thea smiled, taking a few books out of her locker.

"Hey, so… your dad…" Jackson said as Thea turned to him.

"What? What did he say to you that day? At the hill? I'm so sorry if he said anything… he's like-"

"Protective? Yeah, I could see that." Jackson laughed a little, "No, he was… he was all good. I just…" He looked across at her, staring at him so innocently. Of course she didn't have a clue what her dad was doing, and he couldn't be the one to tell her.

"What about him?" Thea shook her head.

"What does he do? You know… for a job?" Jackson asked.

"He works down at the docks with my uncle." Thea nodded, "Why?" She laughed a little.

"Oh, no reason." Jackson nodded calmly, "He's a pretty scary dude, I guess."

"You think?" Thea laughed, closing her locker over.

"You don't?" Jackson laughed.

"No… well, he used to let me paint his nails and do his hair when I was little so… I guess I don't really see him as a scary guy." Thea laughed a little, "What's all the questions about my dad for?" She shook her head, a little curious.

"No reason. Just… must be nice having a good dad." He shrugged, trying to cover up his tracks.

"Yeah, it is." She nodded, "If you think my dad is scary, you should see my mom." Thea nodded.

"Really? Your mom is the scary one?" Jackson asked.

"Oh, one hundred percent." Thea laughed, "She says it's her Puerto Rican side coming out, apparently." She nodded.

"Yeah, I wouldn't fuck with that." Jackson laughed.

"Do you wanna walk to class with me? I'm just down here for history." She pointed.

"Sure." Jackson smiled. He didn't like knowing what he knew.


	20. Something Else

**Something Else**

* * *

"What is he doing?" Jude whispered, standing at her parent's room door, looking on at her father who was in bed with the covers practically all the way over him, "It's day time" She looked up at Thea who nodded.

"Maybe he's sick." Thea whispered.

"I should wake him." Jude walked over to the side of the bed.

"No, don't." Thea advised, "Just leave him."

"Oh, but I want to say hi to him." Jude sighed, standing on her tip toes as she looked in at Punk sleeping, "He's sleeping like a baby." She smiled, patting her father on the arm like a dog.

"Come on, let's just leave the room." Thea shook her head, walking away out of the bedroom whilst Jude stayed and watched her father sleeping.

She ran around the bed to the other side, jumping onto the bed and laying down in the space beside as she watched him sleeping.

AJ shortly came upstairs, finding Jude in bed beside Punk and sighing.

"Mommy I'm waiting for him to wake up." Jude whispered.

"Oh, no, baby… let's just let him sleep, ok?" AJ nodded, walking around the bed and taking Jude's hand as she slid off the bed, "He's just not feeling good."

"Oh." Jude frowned, "But does he need medicine?" She wondered.

"He's got all the medicine he needs." AJ assured him.

"Can I give him a hug?" Jude asked her mother as AJ nodded.

"Yeah… yeah, of course you can." AJ smiled, watching as Jude ran over, kneeling back up on the bed, carefully giving her father a big hug and kissing his head as AJ smiled.

Jude jumped back off the bed, running around and taking AJ's hand as they left the bedroom.

"When is Uncle Dee coming?" Jude asked, running down the stairs as AJ followed.

"Soon. Maybe you can show Chrissy your new bracelet maker… thing." AJ nodded.

"I will." Jude nodded.

"You can join in too if you like." AJ nodded to Thea who came downstairs behind her.

"Bracelet making?" Thea asked, "What am I? Six?"

"Hey, I love bracelet making." AJ scoffed, "One of my favourite activities." She nodded, walking into the kitchen with them.

"Maybe daddy will make a bracelet with me." Jude nodded.

"Daddy's not feeling good, baby. But you could make one for him." AJ nodded.

"Daddy's shouldn't get sick." Jude huffed at the inconvenience.

"Oh, I know." AJ agreed, "Do you have homework?" She asked Thea.

"I did it during a free class." Thea nodded, "So no, I don't." She said, "Why is Uncle Dean coming over?"

"Just for some dinner." AJ shrugged.

"But dad is sick." Thea shook her head with confusion.

"I do get along with your Uncle." AJ laughed a little, "Plus, Renee and Chrissy are coming over too. They're gonna bring some food on their way over." She nodded.

"What kind of food?" Jude's ears picked up.

"I have no idea. It'll be surprise." AJ said.

"I don't like surprises." Jude folded her arms.

* * *

"I'm worried." AJ nodded, standing in the living room later that night with Dean. Renee was in the kitchen with the girls making bracelets after they had dinner. She'd invited Dean around to talk about Punk, how concerned she was getting, because until now, he'd been very good at hiding a lot.

"What about?" Dean asked.

"Phil." AJ nodded, "What all of this is doing to him." She said, "He just… he broke down last night. Lost it." She said.

"He kicked off?" Dean asked.

"No, it wasn't like an outburst… he wasn't angry, he was… he was crying, he was… upset." AJ shook her head, running her hand through her hair, "And now he hasn't gotten out of bed all day."

"So he's having an off day?" Dean shrugged.

"Dean, come on." AJ said, "It's not just an off day. I have off days. We all have off days from time to time but he's… it's like he's just hiding. And last night he was talking about… how many lives we've ruined, being a part of… the drug business. He said he hates himself." She shook her head, "I'm really worried."

"Has he talked like this before?" Dean asked, getting a little more concerned.

"No, not like that. I guess he's been a little distant lately and he's maybe been putting on a front just for me and the girls but… this isn't good. It's not good for any of us. And I think he's starting to feel like this is what his life is gonna be. That this was his decisions and that's what has lead him here." She said, "But he got better. He did his time and he… he did the work. I just hate that this is happening again." She said, stressfully rubbing her face with her hands as Dean nodded.

"You think he's depressed?" Dean asked.

"Well… yeah, I'd say so." AJ nodded, "He's never missed a day of work. Not since he was a kid." AJ said, "I was thinking I should go talk to Marina."

"No, don't do that." Dean scoffed.

"Maybe just… girl to girl, she might listen to me-"

"You think she cares? You give her a sob story and she'll laugh in your face." Dean said.

"Except it's not a sob story. It's actually happening." AJ said, "I gotta do something, Dean. I don't want us to be in this mess. And I don't want it to be all on Phil's shoulders." She shook her head.

"Don't go down there." Dean advised.

"I feel like I have to." AJ shrugged, "I mean if I gotta beg, lose my dignity, get on my damn knees… I will." She said, "I don't want my husband suffering. I don't want it to come to a point where he's shutting off and he's not talking to us, or the girls." She sighed as Dean nodded. He could see how stressed she was about this, and he too was also stressed.

"I thought we were gonna work on ways to take her down." Dean said.

"She's got her whole damn family working there. You know how risky it would be too try and take her down. Phil just told us that we could so that we wouldn't worry. It's what he does. He takes all the worry from us and carries it on him." She sighed as Dean nodded.

"Do you want me to come down to the club with you? You're like five months pregnant. I'll be here, sweating." He said.

"I can handle myself." AJ assured him, "Me and her… we can talk. Just… us girls." AJ rolled her eyes.

"Ok… ok, if you… if you think it could make a difference." Dean nodded.

"I'm desperate." AJ said, "Could you stay here with the girls?" AJ asked him.

"Sure I can." Dean nodded, "You want me to go check on Phil? See how he's doing?"

"No, I… I think it's best just to leave him right now." AJ said as Dean nodded, "Just tell the girls I went to work to pick something up." She nodded to him, picking up her coat from the living room.

"Ok." Dean nodded, "Hey, we'll work this out. Phil's got us." Dean said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah." AJ took a deep breath, "I shouldn't be too long."

* * *

AJ left the house and drove to the club which Rio created, taken over by Marina and her entire family. She had no fear of Marina as a person. She had no fear of talking and engaging with her. She feared what she was capable of, the lengths she would go to.

She got out of the car and headed into the club through the back entrance. Her family knew who she was, so she was allowed into the building without any hassle.

She headed down the corridor and knocked on the office door before walking on in, spotting Marina sitting at her desk on the phone whilst holding a drink in her hand.

She walked into the office and closed the door over behind her as Marina looked over at her.

"I'll call you back." Marina spoke into her phone, hanging up on the call and looking over at AJ, "Hi, April." Marina nodded.

"Hey." AJ said calmly.

"You good?" Marina asked as AJ looked across at her.

"We need to talk." AJ said, sitting down in front of the desk on one of the chairs.

"You want a drink?" Marina asked her.

"I'm pregnant." AJ scoffed as Marina shrugged.

"So what? One won't hurt." Marina shook her head.

"I'm good." AJ declined.

"Boy or girl?" Marina asked.

"We don't know yet." AJ said.

"It's a boy." Marina nodded, "You got that fresh skin… thick, shiny hair." She said as AJ looked across at her, "You should talk to my mom. She'll tell you for sure." Marina said as AJ nodded slowly.

"I didn't… I didn't come here to talk about that." AJ shook her head.

"What'd you come to talk about?" Marina asked.

"You letting us go." AJ nodded as Marina tilted her head a little with a small smile, "And look, I know… I know what you're gonna say. You need us. We do a good job. You'll put me in prison if we don't… but, we moved on from all of this a long time ago." She shook her head.

"April-"

"No, please… please just let me talk." AJ said as Marina looked at her.

"Ok." Marina nodded with acceptance.

"We did this when we didn't have a home. And maybe… maybe I'd go as far as saying Rio was the reason we ended up involved with all of this, but I won't disregard the poor choices Phil and I made. We're not in denial. We can admit it." She nodded, "But Phil done his time. He missed things. We almost lost it all. And we worked… so, so hard at doing better. For ourselves. For our children." AJ nodded, "And maybe you don't get that, and I won't judge you, but I somehow managed to pull myself out of a one bedroom apartment which I couldn't even afford, to living in a four bedroom house and having an incredible job that I love." She said.

"Do you want a medal?" Marina asked, "So you got rich, good for you. A lot of people get rich when they come from nothing-"

"That's not the point I'm making." AJ spat, "The best part of that wasn't getting money or getting the big house… it was getting away from this." She nodded as Marina looked at her.

"And I'm the big evil monster who pulled you back in?" Marina nodded to herself.

"Yeah, if we're being honest." AJ nodded, "You can find yourself other dealers. More people to move your shit. Why are you adamant that it's us?" She shook her head.

"Because I heard Rio talk about you guys an awful lot." Marina said, "Towards the end, it seemed like you guys had bad blood, things got in the way but… whenever he spoke about Phil, or you… it was like he… he beamed with pride. He was so happy that he could actually trust someone."

"He tried to rape me." AJ reminded her.

"Yeah, you got away." Marina nodded, "I didn't." She looked her in the eye as AJ stared at her, "You're a fighter. Maybe… maybe I wasn't."

"He… He raped you?" AJ questioned as Marina nodded.

"More than once." Marina said, "And people say, oh your… your boyfriend can't rape you. He's your boyfriend. As if… as if that means he owns me." She chuckled as AJ looked at her.

"I didn't… I didn't know. I'm sorry." AJ said as Marina nodded, "Is that why you wanted him dead? Well… why you killed him?" She asked.

"Partly that." Marina nodded, "And I just wanted the business to myself. His time was up." She said, "I wanted control of all of this. Feel important for the first time in my life." She said.

"And do you? Feel important?" AJ asked her.

"Yeah, I do." Marina nodded as AJ stared at her, "But I can't let you both go."

"Why can't you?" AJ questioned.

"You're not just working to help me, April. You're working off your debt." Marina nodded as AJ shook her head with confusion.

"My debt?" AJ laughed, "Are you implying that I've bought drugs from you?" She chuckled.

"Not you." Marina looked across at her.

* * *

"Hey, man." Dean knocked on the bedroom door, walking into the bedroom where Punk was sitting up in bed, "Brought you a coffee."

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Punk asked, "Thanks." He took the coffee from him.

"We came over for dinner. Renee is downstairs with the girls making bracelets." Dean nodded, "Thought I'd come see how you're doing."

"Y-Yeah, I… I think it's like a flu or something." Punk nodded.

"Phil." Dean looked at him, "Come on, I'm not twelve." Dean said.

"April talk to you?" Punk figured as Dean sat down at the end of the bed.

"Yeah, she talked." Dean said, "She's real worried about you. And honestly, I am too. All this talk about you hating yourself… that makes me nervous, you know-"

"Don't worry I'm not gonna off myself." Punk rolled his eyes, leaning his head back against the headboard.

"Well what's going on? Talk to me? What's going on in your head?" Dean asked as Punk sighed to himself.

"I'm just sick of it." Punk said, "I mean we never really got out, did we?" Punk asked, "It's always been there. Even when I walk down the street, I bump into someone and they still think I'm that kid thirteen years ago. And then I have to ask myself, am I still that kid?"

"You're not." Dean said, "You gotta get out of that mindset. What's going on right now isn't by choice."

"But it's always gonna be there. People know us. We're never gonna just fade away. The only way you fade away from all of that bullshit is when you die." Punk nodded to himself.

"Dude, stop… stop talking like that." Dean nodded, "Come on. We'll make it through this. Just like last time."

"Last time when I went to prison?" Punk questioned, "We're dealing, Dean. We get caught and we're off. I get caught? I'm a reoffender, I get twice as much as time." Punk said.

"No one's getting caught." Dean said. He wasn't used to seeing his brother in such negative headspace. If anything, their roles were usually reversed.

"I told mom." Punk said, "About it." He nodded, "You know what she said to me?" He asked.

"What?" Dean said.

"People like me are the reason she is… the way she is." Punk nodded to himself, "And the sad thing is, she's fucking right. Our mother actually made a good point." He said, "I'm doing this to someone else's mom or dad… and kids, I saw a kid the other night shooting up, he's like sixteen, friends with Thea-"

"Dude, you gotta reel in your thoughts. Don't go crazy thinking about that stuff, or you really will lose your mind." Dean said with concern, "You're not behind this. You're being forced. That's a big difference. We don't know what that bitch will do if we refuse… it could be April's ass on the line."

"Yeah, I know that… I just, I wish it wasn't as complicated." Punk nodded.

"I know. I know, buddy." Dean sighed, "We'll get out of it. We will. I know it doesn't feel like it right now but we'll get there."

"There's something I didn't tell you…" Punk admitted, "Or April." He said as Dean looked at him with confusion.


	21. Stressed

**Stressed**

* * *

"Phillip!" AJ yelled, walking into the house, slamming the door shut behind her and throwing her coat over, "Phil!" She practically screamed, heading upstairs.

"Is daddy in trouble?" Jude gasped, sitting at the kitchen table, making bracelets with her sister, cousin and aunt.

"Sounds like it." Renee cringed, "Let's just… let's make another bracelet." She nodded to them as Thea listened to the bedroom door slamming upstairs.

"What the hell is going on?" Thea questioned.

"It's fine." Renee assured her, "Look, you've not finished this bracelet. Get some sparkly thread through that." She said, trying to distract the girls.

Meanwhile upstairs AJ had burst through the bedroom door like a gust of wind, looking over at her husband who was out of bed and wondering what he was about to be yelled at for.

"Dean, can you give me a minute with my husband." AJ said, throwing her purse down on the floor, keeping her eyes on Punk.

"Sure." Dean cringed, walking behind AJ, raising his eyebrows to Punk before quickly escaping the room.

"You certainly know how to make an entrance." Punk scoffed.

"Shut up." AJ spat as Punk looked at her, "When were you gonna tell me?"

"Tell you what?" Punk shook his head.

"That we are working to pay off my families debt." AJ said as Punk groaned to himself, "You don't think that was something that… that you should have ran by me?"

"April-"

"And why the hell did Marina tell you?" AJ spat, "Are you two… are you two friends now? Huh? Best friends? Normally I'd be fine but given the fact that you've fucked her before, who knows-"

"Yeah, ok. You need to calm down." Punk warned, "Don't come at me like this. You wanna talk, we can talk."

"I am so mad right now." AJ gritted her teeth as Punk put his hands on his hips.

"Like everything, April… I never told you because I didn't want you to worry. It was bad enough doing what we're doing, but finding out the reason-"

"Why did Marina tell you? Why you and not me?" AJ questioned.

"She didn't tell me. I found out." Punk said, "I was… I went through her things one day, I don't know, just to see if there was something we could hold against her. And I found your parents' names on a lot of things so I had to call her out on it." He said, "She explained to me that Rio gave a ton of money to your parents… a ton of drugs too." He said, "Which they never paid back, and after Marina took over she… I guess she carried on all the debts." He nodded, "She called your parents about, asking for all of the money, which… is a lot by the way-"

"Yeah, I saw how much it was." AJ said.

"And that's when your parents suggested that we… take care of it." Punk said as AJ shook her head, "So when your dad showed up here, it took every part of me not to… beat him to a fucking pulp." He said.

"How long have you knew?" AJ looked at him.

"Does it matter?" Punk asked.

"How long?" AJ spat.

"Over a year." Punk said as AJ began pacing angrily, "April, come on, I didn't want you to know that your parents are a bigger heap of shit than we even thought."

"You can't hide things from me in this." AJ said angrily, "I need to know. Otherwise I'm just… the clueless little girl in the middle of everything." She shook her head, running her hands over his face, "So all that stuff Marina said about us being trusted and good at the job… that was bullshit? She really just had us working off my parents debt?"

"Well, I think it's a bit of both." Punk said.

"My parents actually told her that we would pay it off. That's why we're in this mess. My own parents." AJ looked at him.

"They owed a lot of money, April." Punk shook his head, "I think they thought once Rio was dead that… that it would go away." He nodded.

"And now they've put all of their problems onto us." AJ said, "For what?! They don't even speak to me!" AJ yelled angrily, tears starting to pour down her face. She was angry and upset, which wasn't a god combination for anyone.

"I guess they thought that we were still… involved in that life-"

"It doesn't fucking matter." AJ said, "They owe so much. And now it's… it's on us?" She questioned, tears streaming.

"Yeah, when I found out I wanted to go to Puerto Rico right away-"

"We should have. You should have told me and we could have… fixed this, way before now-"

"Marina wants us doing the job. It just so happens that, your family owe money. It's like killing two birds with one stone for Marina." He said.

"But this is their mess!" AJ yelled angrily, "God, I want to kill them." AJ shook her head angrily.

Meanwhile Dean had joined the kitchen where Renee was curious about what the hell was going on.

"The hell is going on up there?" Renee whispered to Dean.

"Something to do with AJ's parents being involved in all of this shit." Dean shook his head, "I don't know, AJ looked like she was about to explode."

"She sounds it too." Renee shook her head, "Should we take them out of the house?" She asked.

"No, they'll… Phil and April will calm down." Dean nodded.

"It's really not like them to fight." Renee said. She hadn't heard AJ yell the way she was before, so she was surprised.

"Yeah, she's… she's angry alright." Dean nodded.

Meanwhile Thea had slipped away out of the kitchen without them noticing, walking down the hallway and going upstairs where she heard back and forth yelling between her parents. She was just curious. Hearing her parents yell at one another was a foreign thing, it very rarely happened.

"I swear to God, I've never… I've never felt this angry." AJ shook her head as Punk looked across at her.

"Ok, just… just calm down." Punk nodded.

"Don't tell me to calm down." AJ said, "My family are doing this to us. They're the reason we're in this mess. They're living their lives, not a care in the world. They really thought, oh… debt? No. Phil and April will figure it out for us." AJ spat.

"Yeah, they're terrible people. But it doesn't change anything for us-"

"I'm gonna go talk to them." AJ nodded, "Yeah-"

"April, no way. Not like this." Punk said, taking her hand and pulling her back.

"No!" AJ yelled, "No, they… they have done nothing but neglect me, or use me, look down on me." AJ cried as Punk sighed, "Everything was fine and they… they ruined it." She cried, becoming hysterical, no longer being able to form words as Punk sighed.

"Come here." He shook his head, wrapping his arms around her tightly, "I know… I know you hate them." Punk nodded as she cried loudly.

Meanwhile Thea stood outside the room listening. She'd never heard her mother cry before. She really didn't like it. It was an abnormal sound for her.

"Thea." Dean whispered, reaching the top of the stairs. He could hear AJ crying from the room, and it wasn't anything he wanted Thea to hear, but it looked like it was too late.

"Why is she crying?" Thea asked, "Is something wrong?"

"No, no… it's ok." Dean said quietly, "Come on. Come back downstairs." He encouraged as Thea walked towards him, "Your mom is just… the baby makes her more upset-"

"But why is she upset anyway?" Thea questioned, walking downstairs with him.

"You know, I think it's just to do with her mom and dad being back, that's all." Dean nodded, trying to keep it basic.

"Oh." Thea frowned, "She's really upset."

"I know." Dean sighed, "But she'll be fine. We're dishing out ice-cream in the kitchen, you don't wanna miss that." He said, wrapping his arm around her and leading her into the kitchen.

"I hate them so much." AJ cried as Punk held her in his arms. He always knew he and AJ had an understanding about practically having no parents, but in a way, he knew his mom cared about him to an extent. AJ's parents… very clearly didn't.

"I know." Punk nodded, "I hate them too." Punk agreed.

"And why are they back now?" AJ questioned, looking up at him, her face puffy and red, "Why did they come back and ask to see the girls and… and pretend like they're not making our lives miserable?" AJ shook her head.

"I don't know, it's like they… they got no awareness. No regard." Punk nodded.

"Phil, they owe so much." She shook her head, her heart skipping many beats.

"I know, I saw." Punk nodded.

"This is their problem. Why are we dealing with it?" AJ asked. She was so mad, so angry and upset. To be in the mess they were in, because of her own parents, it was disgusting.

"I already asked Marina about her… going after them instead of us. And I felt bad at first but… this isn't our problem. It's theirs." Punk said, "But that's when she explained to me that she liked the set-up, that she liked that we were good at this and loyal. She said that it was the best suggestion your mom made."

"I'll kill her…" AJ shook her head, pausing when she started feeling pain and discomfort.

"No one's gonna kill anyone, this sucks and I know…" He paused as she stepped back a little, "April?" Punk looked at her.

"Oh, I got a… I got a pain." AJ said painfully as Punk looked on with concern.

"Ok, sit… sit down." Punk helped her sit down on the bed.

"No, no that's worse." AJ said, immediately after sitting down, standing right back up, "Phil, I've never felt this pain before." AJ said worriedly and frantically.

"Ok, alright… we'll go to the hospital." Punk nodded, grabbing his things quickly, taking her hand, "Hey, it's gonna be fine." He nodded to her as she nodded with him hopefully, "Take your time." He encouraged, holding her hand as he walked downstairs with him.

"It's not going away." AJ worried, holding her stomach.

"Ok, well we're going to the hospital anyway, and they'll check you over." Punk nodded calmly. She needed calm right now.

"Ok." AJ nodded.

"Can you head into the car?" Punk asked her as she nodded.

"Yeah." AJ said, taking the keys and heading on out whilst Punk ran off into the kitchen.

"Hey, I gotta take April to the hospital." Punk nodded to Dean and Renee.

"Why? What's wrong?" Dean asked.

"I don't know, I don't know… she's… she's in a lot of pain. Her stomach." Punk worried.

"Shit, ok." Dean nodded, "Ok, go. We'll stay here." Dean assured him as Punk nodded, quickly leaving the house to head to the hospital.

"Is something wrong with my baby?" Jude asked quietly, looking up at Dean whilst Thea too turned to him.

"N-No… no, it'll be fine." Dean nodded, "Your mommy's just got… a tummy ache." Dean nodded to Jude who nodded slowly whilst Thea looked unconvinced.


	22. Bad to Worse

**Bad to Worse**

* * *

"You're sure it's just a urine infection?" AJ questioned, sitting on the bed in the hospital whilst Punk stood beside.

"Yeah, definitely." AJ's doctor nodded, "People underestimate the pain of a urine infection sometimes. We get pregnant women come in all the time, panicking, worried that it's something serious but… most often than not it's a UTI." The doctor said.

"It was really painful." AJ raised her eyebrows as the doctor nodded.

"Yeah, we'll get you on a course of anti-biotics right away." The doctor nodded, "Baby looks good. Healthy. Nothing to worry about." The doctor smiled as AJ nodded and took a deep breath.

"I've never… I've never had a pregnancy scare like that." AJ shook her head, "It's normally smooth sailing."

"Oh, these things can happen." The doctor smiled as AJ nodded.

She was grateful for being seen to right away and examined properly by her doctor. She felt more at ease and thankful that it wasn't anything serious. She immediately felt better just by knowing her baby was ok.

"She can take anti-biotics whilst pregnant?" Punk asked.

"We'll get her a dose that's safe for her and the baby." The doctor nodded, "Now I've got it down here that you're still waiting on finding out the sex of the baby. Is that right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, we don't know yet." AJ nodded.

"Well I can tell you if you're interested." She said, looking down at the folder as AJ looked at her.

"You have it right there?" AJ asked as the doctor nodded.

"Yeah." The doctor nodded as AJ turned to Punk.

"Your call." Punk nodded to her.

"I… I think I wanna wait." AJ said as the doctor nodded.

"Sure thing." The doctor smiled.

"So you know if it's a boy or girl?" Punk asked.

"I do." The doctor nodded.

"Just give us a small clue." Punk said.

"Phil." AJ scoffed as the doctor chuckled.

"I'll go get your anti-biotics, April. You can start getting changed." The doctor nodded, leaving the room as AJ sat up on the bed.

"How's the pain?" Punk asked her, rubbing her arm softly.

"Still there but… not as bad." AJ said, "I really thought something was wrong." She shook her head, rubbing her bump softly.

"You're all good." Punk nodded, "Both of you." He said, leaning down and kissing her head as she smiled.

"The yelling and screaming probably didn't help." AJ shook her head, looking up at him, "I'm sorry. You sort of… turning into my punching bag there and I didn't mean that." She shook her head.

"Hey, I don't mind being your punching bag." Punk nodded, "Well… as long as we're not talking about literal punches because… I've saw you swing some good hooks in my time." He said as she smiled and laughed a little. It was so good to see her laughing instead of crying, of course.

"I was just… I am still so mad." She shook her head, "I just… I do wish you told me." She said, taking his hand.

"I don't think it could have changed much. I didn't want it to make you feel small or… worse than your parents already make you feel." He said, "I do these things out of love, trust me."

"Oh, I know." AJ sighed, kissing his hand, "I know."

"You need a hand getting your clothes on?" Punk asked her as she got down from the bed.

"No, I'll be fine. We're in a hospital, mister." She raised a brow as he chuckled, watching her take her clothes and head off into the toilet in the room.

* * *

"Is she ok?" Dean asked, later that night after Punk and AJ got home from the hospital.

"Yeah, she'll be fine." Punk nodded.

"I don't mean the infection… the whole deal with her parents? You think she'll be ok?" Dean asked.

"I mean she's… she's mad. And she should be. Her parents treat her like a piece of shit. Makes our mom look like an angel." Punk shook his head, "I don't know, I gotta talk to her when she's got a cooler head. Earlier she was just… in rage mode." He said.

"Yeah, I could tell. Thea kinda of her heard a little bit. She went upstairs." Dean said, "Just for the heads up in case she comes asking."

"Yeah, ok." Punk nodded, "Thanks for sticking around with the girls."

"Hey, no problem." Dean nodded as Renee walked out of the living room with Chrissy in her arms.

"Thanks, Renee… for keeping the girls occupied." Punk nodded.

"Hey, it's fine. You have a lot of bracelets in there, made specially for you." Renee said as Punk smiled.

"I'm sure I'll be forced to wear them." Punk nodded, "Hey, you… can I get a hug?" Punk asked his niece who was in Renee's arms.

"You gonna give puncle a hug?" Dean asked Chrissy who nodded, reaching her arms out as Punk lifted her in for a hug.

"Thanks, angel." Punk smiled, squeezing her tightly as Chrissy giggled.

"I made you a bracelet too." Chrissy told him.

"Thank you." Punk smiled, "I can't wait to see it."

"It's the purple one." Chrissy let him know, "Jude wouldn't let me make you a red one because she said that's your favourite colour and she has to make it for you." She explained as Punk smiled and nodded.

"I see." Punk nodded, "Well, I like purple too." He said.

"Look at you, got all these girls making you bracelets." Renee scoffed.

"I know." Dean said, "Where are my bracelets?" Dean questioned, taking Chrissy from Punk.

"I've made you lots of bracelets." Chrissy reminded him.

"I'm just teasing." Dean smiled, "Let us know how AJ is doing."

"I will." Punk nodded, "Thanks guys." He said, watching them leave the house as he eventually closed the door over and headed through to the living room where AJ was sitting.

"How you doing?" Punk asked her.

"I'm ok." AJ nodded to him as he walked over and sat down beside her, "Where are the girls?"

"I think they're still making bracelets in the kitchen." He said as she nodded, "Hey, why'd you go see Marina in the first place tonight?"

"Because I was worried. About you." She turned to him, "This stuff is making you miserable. It's making me miserable." She shook her head, "And when I saw you not wanting to get out of bed I just… alarm bells went off in my head and I had to go talk to her." She said.

"What did you think she was gonna do? Just let us off?" Punk asked curiously.

"I just… I thought I could talk to her, girl to girl, figure something out but… it's useless. Especially now I know that we're actually working to pay off debt and not just because Marina likes to depend on us." She shook her head as Punk nodded, "All this time I thought this was our karma. This was our punishment for all the things we did when we were young-"

"Yeah, young and stupid. We were kids. On our own." Punk said, "I got my punishment. A year in a prison cell." He said, "We moved on. We did everything right."

"So why is this happening to us?" AJ shook her head sadly, "How could my parents do this?" She questioned. If anything, now she was just upset about everything.

"I don't know." Punk shook his head, "I mean… if anything, you'd wanna take any problems away from your kids. If I ever see Thea upset or Jude is crying if she fell or wasn't feeling good… all I would wish was to… take any pain away." He said as AJ nodded.

"I need to talk to them." AJ shook her head.

"Do you think that's such a good idea?" Punk asked.

"Well I have to say something. This… this is their problem we're dealing with. It shouldn't be us." She said, "And they have the cheek to come here and act like nothing has even happened, tell me they want to see the girls?" AJ questioned, "It's like they live on a planet of their own."

"Yeah, I think that's one of the problems." Punk nodded.

"They need to be held accountable." She turned to him, "This… this isn't fair." She said.

"How we gonna go about it? It's clear that Marina got what she wanted out of it, worked out perfect for your parents in that sense." He said.

"I still want to confront them." AJ shook her head, "Call them out and then officially cut them off." She said, "Because I want nothing to do with them." She said as Punk nodded.

"How do you go about calling them out, though?" Punk asked, "Without it turning to chaos."

"Well they don't know that we know." AJ nodded to herself, "So, we could invite them over for dinner-"

"Dinner?" Punk questioned, "You think you could sit and have dinner with them?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I can sit through dinner, we can pretend to them that we're just being nice, letting them see the girls and then… then I'll call their ass out." AJ nodded.

"What about the alternative of… just ignoring them and avoiding them? Might be better." He said, "You don't need the stress of fighting with them."

"I have to say what's on my mind, to their faces." AJ shook her head, "I can't hold that in." She sighed, "They're the reason we're in this mess. Don't tell me that you want to let them go about their lives not knowing the damage of what they've done." She said, "You don't fool me, Phil Brooks." She shook her head, "Never have."

"April, I wanted to break your dad's arm when I saw him standing in this house a couple weeks ago, believe me." Punk nodded to her, "But aren't you tired of conflict? Of fighting?"

"I guess it's all we've ever known." AJ nodded, "Backs up against the wall, fight back." She said as Punk sighed and nodded.

"So what's your plan then?" Punk asked her.

"I will find my mom tomorrow. I don't know their address but I know where she'll be. I'll ask her to come to our house this weekend for dinner." She nodded.

"Not that I don't trust you but… you gonna be able to keep your cool when you see your mom?" Punk asked her.

"It'll be hard." AJ said, "But I'll keep my cool." She nodded.

"You have any idea what you're gonna say to them, come the weekend?" He asked.

"We're gonna have dinner." AJ nodded, "Put on a smile. Laugh. Whilst the girls are there of course." She said, "Once they're in bed… I'd like to then ask some questions." She said as Punk nodded, "And when they walk out the door that night, I swear… I will never let them back into my house or my life." She said as Punk nodded, kissing the side of her head.

"It's gonna be ok." He said.

"I went to Marina to ask to get out of this and all I got was more validation that we are… so involved in this." AJ rolled her eyes, "When will it end?" She turned to him as he looked down at her.

Luckily, a knock at their door gave Punk a chance to avoid the question, which AJ knew he didn't have an answer for anyway. They both knew.

"I'll get it." He nodded, standing up from the couch and walking out of the living room, heading over to the door and opening it up where he saw the sixteen year old boy who seemed to always be floating around.

"Can I help you?" Punk said quietly, stepping outside and closing the door behind him.

"You deal drugs, man." Jackson said, "You're involved with all that shit." He nodded as Punk could see he was clearly high.

"Why are you coming to my house, kid?" Punk asked a little angrily, "You should be minding your own damn business."

"I was jealous. I was jealous of Thea. When I… I spoke to you a few weeks ago, in the snow, I was like… man, I envy that girl… she has a cool dad." Jackson nodded as Punk looked at him, listening to every truthful word he was saying, "And… and you just turned out like everybody else. You're just one of them."

"How close are you to my daughter?" Punk questioned.

"Close enough to know I wanna tell her." Jackson said, exasperated, "She's nice to me, man. She's kind. And here I am keeping something like this from her." He said, "I can't… it's gonna come up…" He said, frantically as Punk watched him. The young boy was very much high.

"Why are you taking stuff?" Punk asked, "You're sixteen."

"It's my mom's." Jackson said, "It's just a little bit."

"Kid, you're gonna kill yourself." Punk shook his head, "You gotta go home."

"I'm gonna tell her." Jackson nodded as Punk looked at him. He wasn't about to threaten a very troubled teenager, but he definitely had to say something.

"Listen to me." Punk said, stepping closer to him, "Tell Thea anything, it'll make things worse for her. She's thirteen. She hasn't been exposed to any of this shit. Shit that you and I got exposed to as children." He nodded, "She won't understand."

"Understand that you're a fucking drug dealer." Jackson said.

"Then understand that you don't wanna piss me off." Punk warned as Jackson looked at him, "Stay away from my daughter. And if you had any decent brain cells, you'd stay away from that club." He said as Jackson looked at him.

"You know… I was always glad that my shady dad left us." Jackson nodded, "Thea still has hers and that's gonna suck for her one day." He said, backing away as Punk glared at him, watching the kid stumble off down the street as he rubbed his hands over his face. It went from bad to worse.


	23. Confession

**Confession**

* * *

"April." Punk called, walking into the house later on the next night, closing the door behind him as he got home from work, "Sorry, I'm late. I had a flat tyre, had to pull over and change it." He called, walking through to the living room where his wife wasn't anywhere to be seen.

He headed on through to the kitchen, walking on in where he was surprised to see his mother sitting with his wife.

"Hey." AJ nodded.

"What is she doing here?" Punk questioned as Sam rolled her eyes, holding a cigarette between her fingers.

"She is your mother. Have some respect." Sam scoffed.

"And this is my house. Why are you in it?" Punk questioned, "And where are the girls?" He asked. He could always tell when the girls weren't home, things would be eerily quiet.

"Thea is at a friend's house and Jude is with Dean. Taking her and Chrissy to the movies." AJ nodded to him, "I thought we could have a night off but I got home from work and this awaited on the front step." She pointed to Sam.

"Excuse me? Am I just a thing to both of you?" She questioned.

"Can you… not smoke in here?" Punk asked, "We have clean lungs in this house." He shook his head, walking over to the fridge to grab a drink, "What are you doing here, mom?" He asked, taking a bottle of water from the fridge as Sam puffed on her cigarette.

"Well you're going to be mad." Sam nodded to herself, reaching over and tapping her cigarette over AJ's coffee.

"Are you kidding?" AJ scoffed.

"Coffee is bad for the baby." Sam warned her as AJ looked across.

"Why will I be mad?" Punk asked, "What did you do?"

"Well if you… if you think about it really hard, you'll see that it wasn't such a bad thing I was doing-"

"Mom." Punk said tiredly, "Look, I work twelve hour shifts, I'm tired… you know the situation we're in right now. I could be having a… a nice night with my wife right now. What the hell do you want?"

"Well I… I have a confession." Sam said as AJ looked at her.

"What's the confession?" AJ shook her head.

"Well for the… past couple of years I… I see Thea." Sam nodded, "Whether it's before school or after, she's come to my house a couple times." She said, turning to Punk whose nostrils were already flickering as he sat down his bottle of water, "Ok… ok, I know what you're reaction was gonna be like." She pointed.

"What do you mean you see her?" AJ shook her head.

"Well she… she talks to me a lot." Sam said, "She's come to my house a couple times." She said, "She's not stupid. She knows that you wouldn't have liked it so we… we just kept it to ourselves." She said, watching as Punk ran his hand through his hair.

"How long?" Punk questioned.

"Like two years." Sam nodded, "It just… it happened one day, she was with some friends and I saw her. Obviously she knew who I was. We talked, she… liked talking to me. Whenever we bumped into each other, we talked. I took her for ice-cream a lot and she talked to me about school, about you guys-"

"I don't even get surprised at things anymore." Punk turned to AJ, "What do I gotta do to make people tell me the fucking truth?" Punk spat angrily.

"Rich coming from the drug dealer." Sam said as Punk looked at her.

"I didn't want the girls around you, not because of you, not because you're an evil person but… you're high all the god damn time. Or you're drunk. Your house is a mess and you let… you let Thea in?"

"You tiptoe around that little girl so much. Acting like she's five years old. She's not stupid. She's almost fourteen. She knows I'm high. She knows I'm on drugs." Sam said as Punk looked at her.

"Why are you telling us this?" AJ asked, "I mean you… you could have kept it a secret for longer." She said as Sam nodded.

"Yeah, well… Thea tells me things that I don't imagine she tells you." Sam said as AJ looked at her.

"No, Thea… Thea tells us everything." AJ nodded confidently as Sam raised a brow.

"Well she told me she hadn't told you." Sam said as AJ rolled her eyes.

"Then what is it?" Punk spat, "Spit it out."

"She thinks you're having an affair." Sam nodded to Punk as AJ turned to him.

"What?" Punk shook his head.

"Why does she think that?" AJ questioned angrily.

"She told me that you guys had been fighting a lot. And that you always go out at night." She looked at Punk, "You never let her see your phone." She said as Punk sighed, rubbing his hands over his face, "Of course I know you're not having an affair, you're just moving drugs around. But I couldn't tell her that, obviously."

"What did you tell her?" AJ asked wearily.

"I told her that you two love each other and it… it doesn't seem possible. And that parents can fight sometimes, doesn't mean there's an affair going on." Sam shook her head as Punk groaned to himself, "Look, she obviously has friends who… who have shitty dads who have cheated on their mom's, like I said, she's not a baby. She's just worried, I guess." Sam nodded.

"And you're playing counsellor?" Punk questioned.

"At least she can talk to me." Sam said, "And I'm telling you so you can talk to her about it."

"Well it's not like I can tell her the truth." Punk sighed to himself, sitting down at the table as Sam watched him, lighting up another cigarette. He was over being mad at his mom because he was so distraught that his daughter thought so low of him.

"You don't have to." Sam said, "Just talk to her about it, tell her that couples fight from time to time." She shrugged.

"Did she say anything to you about a kid called Jackson?" Punk asked his mom, taking the opportunity.

"Oh, that kid who like… stalks her?" Sam scoffed.

"What?" AJ raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, he's always around her when I see her after school. And he's older so… I don't know, I don't like it." Sam said.

"Well bad news is, he saw me at the club one night. He knows what I'm doing and I got a feeling he's calling tell Thea." Punk nodded.

"What?" AJ shook her head, "Why didn't you tell me this?"

"Well I thought a kid was the least of our problems right now." He shook his head, "He's always taking the drugs so I… I don't like him being around Thea-"

"Do you want me to scare him?" Sam asked.

"No, mom. I don't want you to do anything." Punk scoffed, "What do you mean he stalks her?"

"He's just always around her." Sam said.

"What does she say about him?" AJ asked.

"Nothing much. Just that he's a friend." Sam shrugged.

"Well what the hell am I supposed to do? Go threaten a child?" Punk asked.

"If you don't, I will." AJ scoffed.

"Get him mad and he'll tell Thea what he saw… or worse, he'll tell the cops-"

"No he won't. He's a buyer." Sam reminded him, "How much mess are you two in right now?" She questioned, looking at Punk and AJ. Things felt very chaotic, she could sense it

"You don't wanna know." Punk shook his head, "What else does Thea tell you?"

"Nothing scandalous." Sam laughed, "She talks to me. About school, about Jude, her friends, what's been going on with her." She nodded, "She's a good kid. Don't be mad at her for… for keeping this from you. Just be mad at me."

"I'm not mad." Punk shook his head tiredly, "It's not doing any harm." Punk said, "And if she… likes talking to you, I don't got a problem with that." He told his mother who nodded slowly, "But I find out you are setting her up with alcohol or cigarettes…" He pointed to her angrily as Sam put her hands up.

"I wouldn't do that." Sam shrugged innocently.

"What are we doing about this kid?" AJ asked, "Am I the only one a tad concerned about an older boy hanging around her?" She questioned.

"Trust me, if I was hooked to a heart monitor right now, you'd see how concerned I was." Punk sighed, "I'll talk to her." He nodded to himself, "I'll talk to her when she gets home." He said.

"So wait… am I like… not getting into trouble?" Sam wondered curiously.

"You just… let us deal with one set of parents." Punk shook his head, "We got enough on our plate right now. You buying Thea ice-cream isn't… it's not at the top of my list." He said as Sam raised a brow and nodded.

"I do enjoy talking to her." Sam let them know, "She's a great kid." She said as they nodded, "But what's the deal with your parents?" She asked AJ, "What else is going on?"

"You don't wanna know." AJ shook her head.

* * *

Later that night, Thea came home from her friend's house. AJ had gone upstairs to give Jude her bath and put her to bed, agreeing with Punk that he would talk to Thea. She figured he would know what best to say to her.

"Hey, I'm home." Thea walked into the living room where Punk was sitting on the couch, "What's the score?" She asked him.

"Ten Seven cubs." Punk nodded to her.

"Oh, damn." Thea smiled, sitting down beside him, taking her jacket off, "Where is mom? And Jude?" She asked him.

"Mom took Jude for her bath." Punk nodded, "How was your friend's? Which friend was it?" He asked her.

"Louise." Thea nodded, "It was fine. Her brother puked at dinner, though." She rolled her eyes.

"That's… not good." Punk laughed a little.

"Yeah and she made mac and cheese so… it wasn't that enjoyable." Thea shook her head as Punk laughed and nodded.

"You missed out on mom's famous tacos tonight." Punk nodded, "And no one puked anywhere either."

"Oh, no… I love tacos." Thea groaned.

"There's still some left if you wanna have a snack later." Punk said as she nodded, watching the game as Punk turned to her, "So Sam came by." He said as Thea turned to her.

"She did?" Thea acted calmly as Punk nodded.

"Told me all about… you and hers little friendship." Punk said as Thea raised her eyebrows.

"Uh… I… I don't know what you're talking about." Thea laughed.

"She told me you see her. You talk to her. Go to her house, whatever." Punk said as Thea groaned.

"Please don't be mad with me, I just… she's real nice and I-"

"Thea, I'm not mad at you." Punk assured her, "You didn't have to keep it from me but… I'm not mad. As long as she's not causing you trouble, I… I don't mind." He nodded.

"Really?" Thea questioned, "But you hate her."

"I don't hate her." Punk said, "She just… she wasn't a very good mom for me or for your uncle. She wasn't there for us and that sucks." He said, "But maybe she thrives better in a grandmother situation." He said, "I don't know… but I'm not mad."

"I never liked not telling you." Thea said, "I just thought you wouldn't like it and… she's really cool, you know. She's funny and she… she listens to me-"

"Yeah, she does listen to you." Punk nodded, "You… You told her that you think I'm having an affair?" Punk asked her as Thea widened her eyes and turned away from him.

"Well in all fairness, she wasn't supposed to tell you I said that." Thea mumbled.

"I'm not having an affair, baby." Punk shook his head as she turned to him, "Maybe it looks like that but… I love your mom. More than you'll ever know. I'd never do anything to hurt her."

"But you guys are always fighting." Thea said, "And you always disappear at night."

"We're not fighting, trust me." Punk nodded, "When you know someone as long as I've known your mom, fighting isn't really fighting. It's just disputing over what we think is best for the other." He said, "I mean I've practically known your mom since I was your age, not far off it, we're gonna bicker about stupid things but… doesn't mean we're breaking up or… or I'm having an affair." He said, "And if there is something like that on your mind, come talk to me about it."

"I wanted to but… I got scared." She shrugged.

"Of me?" Punk asked sadly.

"No, in… in case it was true." Thea nodded as Punk shook his head.

"It's not." Punk said as she nodded, "Your mom is my backbone. Believe me." He said as she smiled.

"Can you tell me what you were fighting about last night then?" Thea shrugged as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, I can." Punk said, "Your mom's parents. Kinda like me, your mom didn't really have a good relationship with her parents. Whilst my mom is sort of harmless, only a danger to herself, your mom's parents are a little more dangerous. They've said some things, done some things that… aren't good." Punk said, "And your mom was mad and upset about it all." He said.

"Well what did they do?" Thea asked.

"They just like to put a lot of their problems on us. Let us deal with things." Punk explained the best he could, "And it makes things stressful for us." He said as Thea just nodded. She figured her dad wasn't going to go into detail, "Bad things. Things that could get us in trouble." He said as she turned to him.

"Oh." Thea nodded.

"But we're gonna be fine." Punk nodded, "I promise."

"Ok." Thea said as Punk looked at her.

"Can I ask you something?" Punk asked her as Thea nodded, "That boy… Jackson, is it?" He asked as Thea nodded.

"What about him?" Thea asked.

"Is he bothering you?" Punk questioned, "You can tell me."

"He's not bothering me." Thea shrugged, "I think he has a tough home life. I feel bad for him, actually."

"If he was bothering you, you can let him know." Punk nodded, "He's older and you gotta be careful that-"

"I know." Thea understood where he was going, "I'm not stupid." She said sassily, exactly like her mother as Punk nodded.

"I'm not saying you're stupid, I'm saying other people can be dangerous." Punk said.

"Jackson isn't dangerous." Thea shook her head as Punk nodded.

"Ok… I-I trust your judgement." Punk nodded, "You know I just really want you to be safe."

"Yeah and I will be." Thea assured him, "How come you don't say any of this to Jude?" She questioned.

"Because Jude is still a little kid. You're growing up. When you grow up, unfortunately, it can get a little scary, a little complicated." He said.

"I'm not scared." Thea scoffed as Punk nodded.

"I know." Punk smiled.

"So can I keep seeing Sam?" Thea asked, "And can I bring Jude? I think Jude would like her." She nodded as Punk looked at her.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "Yeah, you can." Punk said, "We can set something up."

"Cool." Thea nodded, "She's a lot like you, you know." She told him as Punk nodded to himself, "I'm gonna get some of those tacos." She said, leaving the living room.

* * *

"She said he's not dangerous. He's just a friend." Punk shrugged, filling AJ in later that night in bed as she lay against him.

"He's sixteen, though. Why hang around someone that much younger than you?" AJ shook her head.

"Well I think Thea is kind and nice to him, which isn't a bad thing." Punk shook his head, "I just worry that he's gonna tell her that he saw me and explain that I… I'm dealing."

"Well if he was really her friend, he won't tell her." AJ said, "But I don't know, I don't like that he's always around her, like Sam said. She's too young for that shit."

"Or we're too paranoid?" Punk asked, "Maybe he is just glad he has a friend like her. She's a great kid."

"She is but… I don't want anyone taking advantage of her kindness." AJ said, "And if… if he's on drugs, who knows what he could get her involved in."

"I know, I know I'm worried about it." Punk agreed with her, "But there's a lot going on right now and, I trust Thea when she tells me he's not dangerous or causing her any harm." He nodded.

"Of course I trust her too." AJ said, "I still worry."

"I do too." Punk nodded, "She also asked if she could still see Sam, and bring Jude with her."

"What'd you say?" AJ asked him.

"Yes." Punk nodded, "My mom obviously likes spending time with Thea. If she didn't want anything to do with them, she wouldn't come near them. And we've got enough to worry about right now." He said, "If the girls like seeing her, then I shouldn't come in between that."

"Yeah, I agree." AJ nodded.

"It just really sucked that Thea thought I was having an affair." Punk admitted, "I just… I hate being in this position where I'm constantly lying. To my kids, to people around me." He sighed, "I hate it."

"I do too." AJ nodded.

"I told her that there's stuff going on with your parent, that they're not good people." Punk said, "Tried to tell her as much as I could without going into too much detail." He said as AJ nodded, "I mean she was… really scared in case I was having an affair." Punk sighed.

"Poor thing." AJ shook her head.

"I explained to her that sometimes we fight and it's not actual fighting. We've just been around each other for such a long time, the fact we know each other so well comes to bite us in the ass at times." He nodded as AJ smiled and looked up at him.

"Like when I know what's best for you before you do." She cupped his cheek.

"Yeah, I guess so." Punk smiled, "I don't know what I'd do without you. Literally." He said.

"You don't have to think about that." AJ smiled, "You're stuck with me for life." She nodded as he smiled, leaning down and kissing her softly, rolling over on top of her.

"This is getting a little more difficult every night." He laughed, feeling her bump growing more and more.

"Getting big." AJ nodded.

"You and me both." Punk smirked as AJ laughed.

"You're a dork." AJ shook her head, cupping his cheeks and pulling him down to her lips, kissing him passionately, in their own private world for the night.


	24. History Repeating

**History Repeating**

* * *

"Mommy, why am I wearing a dress?" Jude asked angrily, sitting at the kitchen table sipping on her juice box.

"Because we're having people over for dinner." AJ said, "And you look so pretty." She said as Jude rolled her eyes.

"Why isn't Thea wearing a dress then?" Jude questioned, looking over at her sister who was on her phone.

"She tried." Thea nodded, "And she failed." She smirked to her mother who rolled her eyes.

"Ok, girl meeting." AJ said, turning the stove down and sitting down at the kitchen table with the girls, "So this is my parents coming over for dinner." She explained to them, "But we're not gonna see them again after this."

"Why?" Jude asked her.

"Sometimes parents and their children don't get along. So we're gonna have this one and only dinner, and that'll be it." She said. She didn't want them getting confused, "But don't tell them that." She added, "Just you both smile and pretend that you're having a lot of fun. Yeah?" She nodded to them both.

"April, do you know where my-" Punk began walking into the kitchen, topless, looking for a t-shirt he couldn't find.

"Daddy, it's a girl meeting!" Jude exclaimed as Punk raised his eyebrows, putting his hands up and walking back out of the kitchen, "Silly boy." Jude tutted as AJ smiled.

"So we're having this dinner and never seeing them again?" Thea asked, "What's the point?"

"Well mommy and daddy have a lot to talk about with them. Once you guys go to bed." AJ made clear.

"Oh, great. So we miss out on the good stuff?" Thea scoffed.

"It's not good stuff, baby. Trust me." AJ sighed, "All you gotta do is sit through dinner, smile to them, pretend that what they're saying is interesting-"

"Why are we pretending?" Jude asked her, "Are we lying? It's not good to lie." She frowned.

"It's not, you're right." AJ nodded, "But this is just different." AJ said.

"Whatever." Thea shrugged, "What are you making to eat?" She asked, more interested in the food.

"I wanted pizza." Jude sighed.

"It's just some stew thing." AJ waved her hand.

"Hey, am I allowed in here yet?" Punk asked, waiting by the door.

"Yes." AJ laughed, watching as Punk walked back into the kitchen.

"Daddy, put on a t-shirt." Jude scoffed.

"I'm trying." Punk said, "Where is that shirt I wore a few weeks ago? Light blue." He said, "I can't find it."

"Did you even look?" AJ asked.

"Yes, I looked." Punk said.

"If I find it up here, I swear." AJ shook her head, walking by him out of the kitchen as Punk smiled, turning to the girls who were staring at him.

"What?" He shrugged.

"Daddy." Jude said.

"What?" Punk looked at her.

"When the baby comes will you get a tattoo for it or do you only have Thea and Jude tattoos?" Jude wondered.

"Well I'll need to wait until we figure out what we're naming the baby, and then yeah, I'll get ink for it." Punk nodded.

"Can I see mine?" Jude asked as Punk nodded, sitting down beside her. He had a full chest piece tattoo and two full sleeves. He also had some here and there on his legs, behind his ear, his stomach.

"It's exactly where it always is." Punk said, watching Jude struggle to find her tattoo.

"There's so many." Jude said, "Found it!" She exclaimed, finding her name which Punk had designed around the heart tattoo he had in his inner arm.

"Mines is bigger than yours." Thea smirked, "He loves me more."

"No he doesn't." Jude snapped, "Show me Thea's." Jude demanded as Punk pointed to his arm beside his elbow on the opposite arm.

"Thea's is the Greek lady." Punk said as Jude looked at it, "I don't know where I'm gonna fit another one." He realised.

"On your face." Jude giggled as Punk smiled. He loved watching what it amused Jude, she was at an age where she liked making jokes to herself, and he loved to see it.

"On my face? Really?" Punk questioned.

"Yes. Right here." Jude said, kneeling up and touching his forehead.

"That'd be a big life changing decision." Punk said, "So what was girls meeting about?" He asked them.

"None of your business." Thea laughed, "You're not in it." She said as Punk frowned.

"Phil, the shirt was hanging up." AJ walked into the kitchen with Punk's shirt, "Did you even look?"

"Of course I did." Punk scoffed, standing up and taking the shirt from her, putting it on and buttoning it up.

"Ok, everyone just stay calm." AJ told them, starting to freak out on her own a little, "They're gonna come in, and we're just gonna nod and smile." She said as Punk nodded.

"How is this food looking?" Punk asked, opening up the pot, "Damn, I just wanna dunk a piece of bread in there." He groaned.

"Well don't." AJ nudged his arm, "Maybe I'm freaking out a little." She whispered to him so the girls couldn't here.

"It's gonna be fine." He nodded, "We'll get through dinner, have bullshit conversation about our life, pretend we're all good and then when the girls go to bed, we call their ass out. It doesn't have to be an explosion. We just gotta question them." He said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah… yeah, ok." AJ nodded, rubbing his back and sighing.

"Things will be fine." He promised, leaning in and kissing her head as she smiled, listening suddenly as there was a knock at the door.

"Can I get it?" Jude asked.

"Sure." AJ nodded, watching her jump down from the table and run off to go answer the door.

"Can't wait for this." Thea nodded to them sarcastically.

Jude walked back into the kitchen where AJ's parents followed shortly behind her. Jude ran and took a seat beside her sister.

"April." Janet looked over at AJ who nodded, "Phil." She greeted as Punk looked across at them.

"Can't say we're not surprised at this invite." Robert admitted truthfully as AJ and Punk looked across at them.

"Well…" AJ cleared her throat, "I figured, it's been a while since we've sat down as a family-"

"We never sat down as a family." Janet chuckled, "At least it smells good in here." She nodded, pulling a chair out and taking a seat.

"April is pretty good at cooking." Punk nodded, taking their jackets from them.

"Really? I remember her living on cereal as a little girl. Never ate anything warm." Janet laughed to herself as Robert sat down beside her at the table.

"There was never anything hot to make in our house." AJ said calmly.

"Don't be dramatic." Janet scoffed as Jude and Thea looked across at Janet. She wasn't scary to look at by any means, but her voice, the way she bit back with words, that scared them.

"Can I get you both a drink?" AJ asked, keeping her cool as best she could, "Dad there's beer in the fridge."

"That'll do me fine." Robert nodded.

"Water for me is fine." Janet waved her hand.

"So where are you both living now?" Punk asked them. He knew he'd have to step in a lot to keep the conversation going, for as long as he could.

"Oh, just Racine." Robert said, "Not far from our hold house." He said as AJ sat down their drinks.

"I thought with dead grandma and grandpa's money, you'd be able to get a better place somewhere." AJ admitted, "You know… since you took all of it." She said as Punk walked by her, tugging on her hand a little as she nodded slowly.

"April, please… they weren't rich." Janet chuckled, "So, what about you two?" She looked over at Jude and Thea whilst AJ took a seat at the table, "Which one is Thea and which one is Jude?" She questioned as AJ looked at her. It was like her mother really had no awareness of anything.

"I'm Thea." Thea said.

"I'm Jude." Jude said quietly.

"Are those short for anything?" She turned to AJ, "Judith? Althea?"

"Althea?" Punk laughed to himself, "She's not eighty." He sniggered as Janet turned to him. There had never been a relationship with him and her parents. Quite frankly, he knew they didn't like him, and he wasn't all that fond of them, so it checked out.

"No, mom. It's just Thea and Jude." AJ nodded.

"What ages are we talking here?" Janet asked the girls.

"I'm five but I'm almost six." Jude explained.

"I'm thirteen." Thea said as Janet nodded.

"Do you know what you're having, April?" Robert asked, "Boy or a girl?"

"We don't know." AJ shook her head, "I don't think we're gonna find out." She said as Punk nodded in agreement.

"Three kids." Janet nodded to herself, "You ever heard of birth control?" She laughed as AJ looked at her.

"Phil and I wanted another baby, actually." AJ cared to let her know, "Not that that's any of your business." She shook her head.

"Oh, take a joke, April. So serious all the time." Janet shook her head as AJ looked across at Punk who just gave her calm eyes and nodded to her.

"So are you both working?" Punk asked them.

"I have my old job doing security." Robert nodded.

"I'm not working." Janet shook her head.

"Shocker." AJ nodded, taking a sip of her water as Janet turned around.

"How is your job going, April?" Janet asked.

"It's going great." AJ nodded confidently, "I really worked hard at my job. Put myself through college, with a baby, so… it's probably one of my biggest achievements." She nodded to them proudly. She figured if they wouldn't be proud of her, she'd be proud of herself.

She caught Punk smiling across at her, giving her a wink as she smiled.

"Well that must have been a lot of hard work." Robert nodded.

"It was, dad. A lot." AJ said.

"And you got out of that dump apartment you were living in. I thought that you'd be your biggest achievement." Janet chuckled.

"Well… it comes at a close second probably." AJ nodded. She felt every right to brag about the life she'd worked hard at.

"It's a nice house." Janet nodded, "A big step up." She noticed, "You two are very lucky." She nodded to Thea and Jude who weren't saying much.

"When is dinner? I'm hungry." Jude moaned, playing with her fork.

"Soon, baby." AJ nodded to her.

"So what made you wanna come back?" Punk questioned, "I thought the main goal for you guys was to always end up back in Puerto Rico?" He asked.

"Well it was but the hurricane destroyed a lot." Robert said, "Plus, we wanted to come back and see how our family was doing." He nodded.

"Family?" AJ questioned, "You thought that after thirteen years, that would be the best time to show up? Thirteen years?" AJ questioned as Robert looked across at her.

"Believe it or not, the world doesn't revolve around you, April." Janet interrupted as Thea looked up.

"No, not the world, but you're my mother." AJ spat, looking directly at her mom, "You didn't even call."

"Well the lines get all mixed up overseas." Janet waved her hand.

"I was alone." AJ spat as Punk looked at her, shaking his head, but she just ignored him, "I was on my own and that's when you chose to leave."

"Blame your husband for that one." Robert said, glaring at Punk, "Maybe if he didn't end up in a prison cell, you wouldn't have been alone."

"You went to prison?" Thea raised her eyebrows as Punk sat back on his chair, running his hands through his hair.

"What's prison?" Jude mumbled.

"It's where bad people go." Thea said suspiciously, looking across at Punk.

"No, it's… it's not like that." Punk promised them, glaring around at Robert, "Let's not get into it." He said, looking across at AJ who nodded.

"I'm gonna plate up." AJ said, standing up and walking over to the stove as Punk looked over at her, feeling Thea staring at him at the corner of his eye.

"So Jude, you must be in high school, right?" Janet looked at Thea.

"I'm Thea." Thea spat.

"And I'm Jude." Jude said sassily beside.

"Forgive me." Janet chuckled.

"Yes, I'm in high school." Thea answered as there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it." Jude said, jumping off her chair and running away out of the kitchen whilst Punk looked over to AJ.

"Ape, you need any help?" Punk asked, standing up from the table and walking over, just as footsteps made their way into the kitchen.

"Phillip Jack Brooks."

Punk and AJ turned around, looking on at the two police officers standing in the kitchen whilst Jude ran back over to her sister.

"W-What? What the hell do you want?" Punk questioned whilst AJ looked over.

"Phillip Jack Brooks, you're under arrest for the supplying of and production of class A drugs." One of the officers approached Punk with handcuffs as AJ looked on, "You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions. Anything you say may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to consult an attorney before speaking to the police and to have an attorney present during questioning now or in the future."

"Phil…" AJ panicked, knocking over a plate as it smashed on the floor.

"It's fine." Punk nodded to her, putting his hands behind his back as he felt the cuffs lock around him, "Call Dean." Punk nodded to her, getting a shove out of the kitchen as AJ followed him out.

"Some things don't change." Janet mumbled as Thea looked across at her.

"Phil, what the hell?!" AJ exclaimed, "Phil." AJ tried to pull him back away from the police officers.

"Miss." An officer grabbed her away as Punk turned around.

"Put your hands on her again I'll bit your fucking ear off." Punk glared at the officer who looked back at him, gulping a little, "Just call Dean. It's gonna be fine." He nodded to AJ as he was escorted out of the house.


	25. No Way Out

**No Way Out**

* * *

"He talking?" Hamilton walked around the corner towards the interrogation room where the cops who had arrested Punk were standing.

"So far he has… thrown two cups of water at me. One at the cameras." One of the cops nodded, "Threatened Bobby that he would shove his pen down his throat." He added, "I tried to keep his wife back in the house and he told me he'd bite off my fucking ear. The guy is a lunatic."

"No." Hamilton shook his head, "No, he's a Brooks." Hamilton said, "I'll deal with him." He nodded, walking by them and into the room where Punk was sitting at the table, cuffed and silent.

"Oh, fuck me." Punk groaned tiredly.

"Not why I'm here." Hamilton shook his head, sitting down at the table, "You know the whole, made your bed you're lying in it thing?" He asked, "This is what I meant."

"I'm not saying shit to you until my lawyer gets here." Punk shook his head.

"That's fine." Hamilton nodded, "But I can still talk to you." He said as Punk looked across at him, "You had me fooled. You really did. I thought you were clean, for real." He said, "You got the perfect life, wife and kids, steady job." He nodded to himself, "And you cracked?" He questioned.

"Stop talking to me." Punk advised.

"Phil, you do know how serious this is, right?" Hamilton said as Punk looked at him, "Last time you were caught with possession. That right there is a lesser punishment than supplying. You were also caught with B class drugs, this time, not so much." Hamilton said, "You were also younger then. Helped you out." He nodded.

"Stop talking." Punk took a deep breath.

"You're facing up to fourteen years in prison. At least." Hamilton nodded as Punk looked at him.

"You know what I wanna know? Where's your proof?" Punk asked as Hamilton smiled, "You come to my house and arrest me, where's your proof that I was supplying anything?"

"I thought you wanted to wait for your lawyer?" Hamilton said smugly, "I would advise you too, because you're not gonna like this." He said, standing up from the table as Punk watched him leave the room.

Punk waited in the room for an hour until his lawyer showed up.

"Don't say anything to them just yet until we know what we've got." Jerry said, having known Punk since the first time he was sent to prison, "Say nothing." He warned as Punk nodded, watching as Hamilton came back into the room.

"Ok, let's get this show on the road." Hamilton nodded.

"You fucking love this, don't you?" Punk spat as Jerry kicked him under the table beside. It was hard having a client who didn't know how to bite his tongue.

"No, you'd be surprised." Hamilton said, sitting down across from him with a file, "This isn't going to be a difficult process." He nodded, "We have your confession, actually." Hamilton nodded as Punk looked at him.

"My confession?" Punk screwed his face up, watching Hamilton pull a phone out from a plastic bag, sitting it on the table and playing a recording as Punk listened in.

It took him a few seconds, but he eventually realised where this had come from, and now it only made him angrier. There was no escaping it. It was his voice, admitting to dealing, very clearly.

Punk didn't say anything, he couldn't think of what to say really.

"First time it was your girlfriend who snitched on you, this time… a sixteen year old?" Hamilton smiled, "That's gotta feel… pretty emasculating, don't you think?" He asked as Punk looked across at him, "So… Jackson is friends with your daughter who told him, and I quote, there are drugs at the apartment where my parents used to live. I don't think anyone has lived there since. I was there one day with Sam and people came in. I didn't see who it was but I think it was drug dealers." Hamilton said, looking across at Punk who raised his eyebrows.

"What?" Punk shook his head.

"So we went to said apartment, and we found your drugs. Now by this time, someone obviously got word to your drop-off point, which we know is Rio's old club, which is now his ex-wife's club." Hamilton said, "By the time we got there, they'd split. So once again, Phil Brooks takes the fall for everyone." Hamilton nodded slowly.

"What do you mean they split?" Punk shook his head.

"Well we searched the club from head to toe and we didn't fight anything. So what I'm saying is, we only have evidence and proof that you were dealing. If we could have linked it back to the club, we'd be taken them down too. It's just like last time. You got caught, everyone runs. You deal with the consequences." Hamilton nodded.

"Why was Thea in the apartment?" Punk questioned, "Why the hell was she there?"

"That's something you should probably ask her." Hamilton nodded.

"When did Jackson come to you?" Punk asked.

"Last night. He told me his mom is a user and that if we got rid of you and the club, maybe she'd get clean. Poor kid." Hamilton shook his head as Punk ran his hands over his face. He was starting to realise this was more serious than he ever thought. It was starting to sink in, "You wanna fight and take this trial, go ahead. But it'll be a quick trial." Hamilton said as Punk sat still. He was in shock. He couldn't believe this was happening again.

"You don't advise my client anything." Jerry warned.

"You'll get a bail hearing tomorrow morning. If you make it, you might get out until your sentencing, normally takes a couple weeks." Hamilton said as Punk zoned out, barely listening to anything anymore.

* * *

"Marina isn't picking her phone up." AJ said frantically, standing in the living room with Dean who she had called around. She'd told her parents to go home. They had ironically become the least of her problems.

"What shit do they have on him?" Dean asked, "They obviously have something. It's not like he was caught in the act-"

"I don't know." AJ shook her head, "I don't know. But if it's serious enough, he… he might not make bail." AJ said, "Oh my God." She shook her head, feeling sick and light-headed. She couldn't believe this had happened. It was shocking. Terrifying.

"Ok, sit down. Take a seat." Dean advised, "Where are the girls?"

"The kitchen." AJ said, sitting down on the couch as Dean wandered through to the kitchen where Thea and Jude were sitting.

"Hey, you two." Dean smiled as they looked at him.

"Where's my daddy?" Jude demanded to know fiercely.

"Is he in prison?" Thea asked.

"No, no he's not in prison." Dean shook her head, "We're just dealing with something a little complicated right now." He nodded to them.

"He just got arrested." Thea said. She wasn't dumb. She knew what she saw, and it was scary.

"It's gonna be fine." Dean nodded, "Don't you two worry, ok?" He said as Jude nodded whilst Thea just looked at him. She wasn't so convinced.

"He's been to prison before." Thea said as Dean looked across at her.

"It's gonna be fine." Dean said calmly, "Why don't you take your sister upstairs, put on a movie in your parents room." He nodded, "Renee is gonna come over for a little while whilst me and your mom go see your dad."

"Fine." Thea nodded, "Come on, Jude." Thea said, getting up from the table and taking her sister's hand, leading her out of the kitchen and upstairs.

Dean made his way back into the living room where AJ was sitting, worried out of her mind.

"Renee is gonna come by and stay here with the girls so we can go down to the station and see what's going on." Dean nodded.

"Dean, they arrested him for supplying. Last time it was… it was possession. I don't know much but I know that those are big differences in drug land." AJ said, "What if they saw him one night?"

"Let's not get ahead with what if just now. Not until we go down there." Dean nodded, "The girls have gone upstairs to watch a movie. Thea asked if Phil was in prison." He said as AJ sighed, rubbing her forehead. She couldn't not cry right now. Things felt too difficult and worrying.

"I am so scared." AJ shook her head, tears running down her cheeks as Dean sighed, sitting down beside him.

"Come on, it's gonna be fine." Dean shook his head, wrapping his arm around her shoulder as she leaned into him. He didn't know things would be fine. In fact, from what he heard, things weren't fine at all, but he had to give AJ any support he could right now.

* * *

Renee eventually came around, giving AJ and Dean the chance to head to the station. They walked on in and found someone to talk to, but they were both spotted by Hamilton right away.

"Well I expected this." Hamilton nodded, walking over to them both.

"Where is he?" AJ asked.

"He's in a holding cell." Hamilton nodded.

"Can I see him?" AJ questioned.

"No, of course not." Hamilton said as AJ looked at him.

"Tell us what's going on?" Dean spat.

"Well he's been arrested." Hamilton nodded, "He'll have a sentence hearing in a couple of weeks-"

"What?" AJ shook her head, "What about bail? A trial?"

"There's no need for that. I know that. Phil knows it." Hamilton said, "I told you both this day would come." He said, "And trust me, this time, he won't be out after one year." He said.

"Let me see him." AJ said frantically. Hearing all of this just made her all the more desperate to see her husband. She needed to hear things from him right now.

"I can't-"

"After all the racist things you've said to me over the years, the way I've been treated, let me see him." AJ got close to him angrily as Hamilton looked at her. Hamilton looked at Dean who stood behind AJ with his arms folded, her security guard in many ways.

"Fine." Hamilton shook his head, "But just you." He said.

"I'll wait out here." Dean sighed as AJ nodded, walking with Hamilton through the station to one of the rooms.

"Sit here, I'll get him." Hamilton nodded as AJ stood in the room, taking a deep breath and running her hands through her hair.

It didn't take long for Hamilton to fetch Punk from the holding cell. Seeing his face made her feel better, it made her feel safer.

She immediately walked over to him, wrapping her arms around him tightly as Punk sighed.

"This isn't happening." AJ whispered, closing her eyes tightly as she hugged into him.

"You ain't getting long." Hamilton warned before closing the door over.

"It's happening." Punk sighed as she looked up at him, "You here yourself?"

"I'm with Dean. He's out waiting." AJ said, walking over and sitting down at the table as Punk sat across from her, "I've been calling Marina all night, she's not picking up-"

"Yeah, she's gone." Punk shook his head.

"What do you mean she's gone?" AJ shook her head.

"She's split, with her family probably. They searched the whole club. Found nothing." Punk said.

"N-No… no, she wouldn't have just split-"

"Of course she would." Punk said, "You think she cared about us?" Punk asked her as AJ looked at him, "And anyway, if they found her it wouldn't make a difference to me. I'm getting arrested for my part. There's no escaping it."

"What do they have on you?" AJ asked him.

"They got me." Punk nodded, looking across at her, "I… I won't even get a trial. I'm fucking done." Punk told her honestly as AJ shook her head.

"Phil…" AJ's lip quivered as he took a deep breath.

"Not long ago that kid, Jackson, when he came to the house and I talked to him, he was recording me. Got me saying that yeah, I was dealing and moving. Supplying." Punk said, "They also found everything in the old apartment because…" He sighed to himself, "Because Thea told Jackson about it."

"What?" AJ shook her head.

"I don't know how or when but Thea was in that apartment when we were. I don't know if… if she knew it was us or what but… she told him about seeing the drugs and he obviously put it together." Punk said, "I can't get out of this, April." He said truthfully as AJ looked across at him.

"N-No… no, Jerry… Jerry, he can-"

"He's telling me to plead guilty." Punk nodded, "Come on, I can't talk my way out of this one. And this is my second time in court. I'm not… this isn't good. Hamilton said up to… up to fourteen years." Punk shook his head.

"Then we have to change that. We have to fight. Find something." AJ said, "Phil, you can't just lay down to this."

"What do you expect me to do?" Punk asked, "It's the same song and dance as last time. I take the hit, everyone splits, you're on your own having a baby." He said as AJ looked at him, "Maybe I'm just the problem in all of this-"

"Stop talking nonsense." AJ said, "We'll… we'll get you out of this."

"April." Punk said.

"No, we can… we'll get a new lawyer. And we could get a deal or something-"

"April." Punk sighed.

"It might be a little pricier but-"

"April." Punk said louder as she looked at him, her hands shaking, tears dripping from her eyes, "I'm sorry." He shook his head as she looked at him, "I'm not getting out of this."


	26. Too Much Time

**Too Much Time**

* * *

_Eight years later…_

"Happy birthday, kiddo." An older man jumped down from the bunk bed, smacking Punk with a pillow, "It's the big one."

"Fuck off." Punk replied, turning around in the small lower bunk bed.

"Man, I wish I could be forty again." The man admitted, "Come on, give T-bone some love on your birthday." He nudged Punk, "You got the best birthday gift that God has to offer you-"

"Fuck your God." Punk said.

"Now now Phillip." T scoffed, "Just because he's dealt you a hard hand in life, don't be getting all mean on him. He hears us, you know."

"Sure." Punk nodded, sitting up in bed and rubbing his face tiredly, "I feel fifty." He admitted.

"You kinda look it." T agreed as Punk nodded, "But hey, you got a good gift this year, getting out of this place. Finally."

"I don't even know if that's a gift." Punk admitted truthfully, "I don't know if I actually have a life outside of all of this anymore."

"You got a wife and kids. More than me." T laughed.

"No, I… I had a wife and kids." Punk nodded, "None of which visit me anymore." He said.

"I thought the middle one did." T said.

"She hasn't come in over a year." Punk shrugged, "My oldest turned… twenty one last week." Punk nodded to himself, "Twenty one."

"Party time." T wiggled his eyebrows as Punk shook his head.

"She's not a kid anymore." Punk sighed to himself as T looked at him. He was older than Punk. Rough around the edges and in prison for the exact same offence. He wasn't someone he would have gotten along with on the outside world, but being in a cell with him for eight years, it made things easier to just get along with each other. It helped that the older man had a lot of stories to tell, even if some of them were preaching God.

"Where you going when you get out?" T asked.

"Well I was planning on going to my brothers but he sent me a letter and told me there was no room so… I got the fucking hint." Punk said, "My wife… I've not saw her in a long time." He nodded slowly.

"Don't end up on the fucking streets." T scoffed.

"I'll see who shows up, I guess." Punk nodded, about to stand up when he hit his head off the top bunk, "Fuck sake."

"You've been in that bottom bunk for eight years and you do that every morning." T shook his head with confusion.

"I'm forty. Leave me alone." Punk grumbled, stumbling over to the urinal at the corner of the room. This had been his life for eight years. He felt like he'd lost the prime of his life to prison. But most unfortunately, he'd lost his family.

* * *

"Jude!" AJ yelled, storming into her daughter's bedroom where the fourteen year old lay in her bed, "You're going to be so late for school." AJ shook her head, walking over to the curtains and pulling them open.

"Mom!" Jude yelled.

"Up." AJ said, watching Jude roll over and fall out of her bed onto the floor, fake crying as AJ scoffed.

"Don't make me go." Jude groaned.

"You're going." AJ said, "I thought you had a lot of free classes today?" AJ asked, picking up some of Jude's washing from floor.

"No, I must have been dreaming about that." Jude sighed to herself, "I have no clothes to wear."

"Jude you have a ton of clothes." AJ scoffed.

"I need to shower." Jude sighed, standing up from her bedroom floor, wearing her cubs jersey as a night dress.

"You don't have time for a shower." AJ shook her head.

"Mom, I need to wash my hair." Jude said, "Look how greasy it is."

"It looks fine." AJ shrugged.

"Then touch it." Jude said, taking her mother's hand and putting it at the top of her dark hair, "See. Greasy."

"Fine, just hurry up." AJ groaned as Jude left her bedroom and headed on through to the toilet, opening it up and walking in where she saw her older sister sitting on the toilet floor, hugging the toilet seat.

"What are you doing?" Jude shook her head as Thea groaned painfully, leaning her cheek on the toilet seat, "That's so disgusting."

"I'm so ill." Thea moaned.

"Dude, I gotta shower." Jude spat.

"I can't leave this toilet." Thea said, "I've already been sick in my room."

"Is that why mom is in a pissy mood?" Jude asked.

"Maybe." Thea nodded.

"When did you get home?" Jude shook her head.

"Like… 5am." Thea said as Jude rolled her eyes.

"You're a mess." Jude said.

"I know I am." Thea agreed, "I'm doing you a favour. If I'm a mess, I'm setting the bar low for you."

"That is true." Jude realised, watching the bathroom door open up again where their eight year old little sister, the littlest sister, came walking in.

"It smells funny in here." Eight year old, Cassie said.

"Smells like my sick." Thea nodded to her as Cassie made a grossed out face, "If you need to pee, go to mom's room."

"What is going on in here?" AJ walked in, "What is this? A morning meeting?" She asked them, "Thea, are you seriously still throwing up?"

"It appears that way." Thea nodded.

"You woke everyone up when you came home too. Cass couldn't get back to sleep." AJ said, watching Thea falling asleep on the toilet, "Girls, just use my bathroom." AJ nodded to her two youngest daughters.

"Me first." Cassie said, running away, in desperate need for the bathroom whilst Jude rolled her eyes and headed on out.

Meanwhile AJ stayed in the bathroom, looking over at Thea who opened up one eye and looked at her.

"Stop judging me." Thea warned.

"You're lucky you're not at college today." AJ shook her head, "Finish up in here and get back into bed. I'll bring you up water and aspirin before I leave." She said as Thea nodded.

"Thank you." Thea nodded.

"And clean the toilet before you leave it." AJ said, reaching over and patting her head.

"It's dad's birthday today." Thea mumbled, keeping her head against the toilet as AJ nodded.

"I know." AJ nodded, "I know it is." She sighed.

"Are you ok?" Thea asked her.

"Yeah, I'm good." AJ smiled, "I'd be better if I didn't have to clean up your sick this morning, though." She scoffed as Thea smiled, watching her leave the bathroom.

* * *

"Have you girls got everything?" AJ asked later on, in the kitchen as she helped her youngest daughter's get ready for school. The large age gaps between the girls really helped her out after Punk had gone to prison. She always used to wish the girls were closer in age, but by the time Cassie was born, her two eldest daughters were able to help her look after her, especially Thea.

"I think so." Jude nodded, "Do you have your soccer kit?" She turned to her little sister.

"No." Cassie shook her head. Cassie was a lot like Jude. Laid back, unbothered and at times, lived in her own little world. She also didn't know her father, at all.

"Mom, she doesn't have her soccer kit." Jude rolled her eyes. Being the middle child served it's disadvantages at times. Whilst she wanted to be like her older sister, stealing her make-up and clothes, she also had this need to take care of her little sister. She hated being in the middle.

"Well I washed it." AJ said, "Baby, I put it in your dresser, remember." AJ nodded to Cassie who shrugged, eating her toast.

"I'll go look for it." Jude shook her head.

"Thanks, sweetie." AJ nodded, watching Jude wander out of the kitchen. She was so proud of all of her girls. They were, at times, her best friends. Everything she did, she did for them. Their happiness was hers. She was so proud of the women and young girls they were becoming, especially since she'd been doing it alone for so long.

"Here." Jude came back into the kitchen with Cassie's soccer kit. Cassie was the sporty one out of all the girls. Although they all enjoyed watching their favourite teams like the cubs and the hawks, Cassie was the one who always pursued the sports. Jude was the creative one. Thea was the academic one. They were all very different, even though they looked so alike. It meant life with them was never boring.

"Baby when is your game?" AJ asked Cassie.

"6." Cassie said.

"Do you want us to come?" Jude asked her as Cassie shrugged. Jude just turned to her mother and shrugged.

"Yeah, we'll go. We gotta support the best soccer player the school has." AJ smiled, leaning over and kissing Cassie's head, meanwhile Thea made her way into the kitchen with a blanket wrapped around her.

"What happened to my aspirin and water?" Thea frowned.

"Sorry, I'm a little busy in case you haven't noticed." AJ said as Thea made a face at her, "Here." AJ took out the medicine box and threw the aspirin over to her, "Are you coming to your sister's soccer game tonight?" AJ asked.

"Which sister?" Thea turned to Jude and Cassie.

"Cassie, obviously." AJ shook her head.

"Yes. If it was Jude, no." Thea smirked, looking over at Jude who rolled her eyes.

"You're hilarious." Jude nodded, trying to do her homework at the table which she was supposed to do last night.

"I know I am." Thea smiled, "I'll be there, Cass." Thea nodded as Cassie smiled. It was at times, very strange being as old as she was, with an eight year old little sister. It was nice. It was nice seeing her little sisters growing and being a part of cool things.

"Ok, we really gotta girls, you're already ten minutes late and we haven't even left you." AJ rolled her eyes, grabbing her purse whilst the girls got their bookbags.

"Goodbye children." Thea smiled, tripping Jude up on the way out as Jude shoved her. It was fun harassing Jude, they were always teasing each other, whilst in a way they liked to both protect Cassie, and look out for her.

They left the house whilst Thea began making herself a bagel, keeping her blanket wrapped around her, getting distracted when she heard a knock at the door. She waddled her way out of the kitchen and over to the door, opening it up.

"Morning." Sam smiled.

"You got my text?" Thea said cheerfully.

"Yeah, here. Hash browns and a coffee." Sam handed her the bag and coffee.

"You're a gorgeous woman." Thea shook her head, digging into the bag as Sam nodded, "I didn't know if you'd be awake." Thea said, wandering into the living room where Sam followed.

"Oh, yeah. I'm always up." Sam nodded, "So you had a fun night last night?"

"Yeah." Thea nodded, collapsing down on the couch, "You just missed mom. Running late as usual."

"How is she?" Sam asked.

"She's fine. You know her." Thea said, "But I figured since it's my dad's birthday, we could do something for her tonight. Maybe get pizza or something. I know she'll be thinking about him."

"Yeah, that sounds nice." Sam smiled, "So who were you out with last night?"

"Just some friends from college, and then Jackson met up with me later on. It was fun." Thea nodded.

"I thought you two had broken up." Sam said.

"Oh, we had." Thea nodded, "We're fine now."

"That's not entirely healthy." Sam said.

"I know it's not but I'm a weak bitch." Thea shrugged.

"No you're not." Sam scoffed, "I don't like him, though."

"I know you don't." Thea nodded, "You're not subtle about it when he comes over."

"I'm not trying to be." Sam smiled, "I'm gonna… I'm gonna pick your dad up tomorrow. I know he won't be welcomed back here and Dean doesn't have the space so..."

"You do what you want." Thea shrugged, eating her hash browns.

"Jude will want to come see him." Sam assumed.

"Then she can go see him." Thea shrugged, "But she hasn't been to visit him in like… a year at least, which is a long fucking time."

"She's the only one who kept going." Sam said, "I thought that would have been you."

"Why? Because I'm older?" Thea snapped.

"Because you knew what was going on." Sam said, "Is your mom gonna come see him? Has she said anything about it?"

"No, she doesn't speak about it." Thea said, "Jude can do what she wants. She's old enough." Thea said.

"And what about you?" Sam asked.

"Just… let me sleep on it." Thea sighed as Sam nodded slowly, "I'm not sure I wanna see the guy to be honest."

"Well it's your decision." Sam nodded.

"I know it is." Thea said, turning the TV on and curling up on the couch with her blanket.

* * *

**A/N: There will flashbacks coming too! Thanks for reviews.**


	27. Out

**Out**

* * *

"I can go?" Punk asked, standing at the front of the prison, in normal clothing, a cap on his head again after all this time.

"You can go. And please, don't come back. It's not a third time lucky thing here. We don't wanna see you here." The lady at the reception nodded.

"Oh, please. I don't wanna be back here." Punk assured her, walking off to the doors and heading on out, screwing his eyes up as he looked around. Freedom felt a more sacred this time around. Last time, he'd only been in for a year, and that was enough, but eight years… that was a long time to have his life taken from him.

He wasn't sure who would be there to pick him up. Certainly wasn't going to be his wife. And it wasn't going to be his brother, he knew that from the letter Dean had sent him. He'd come to terms with the fact that possibly no one was going to pick him up.

It was almost like he'd became numb to things. To feelings. To hurting. He'd done so much of it that now, he couldn't feel it. He was very much aware that his life was in a broken mess, and he didn't blame anyone, not really. He knew what he was doing was wrong, he felt like he had no choice at the time, but he knew all along what he was doing was illegal. He wasn't in denial.

"Dad!"

He immediately turned around, only assuming he was hearing things, but smiling as he saw Jude running to him. He dropped his bag which had some things in it and caught her in his arms as she ran into him.

"Hey." Punk gasped, squeezing her tightly as she wrapped her arms and legs around him as he lifted her up. He then saw over the hug that his mother was standing.

"Dad, I missed you." Jude sighed, squeezing him tightly.

"I missed you so much." Punk said, closing his eyes and not letting go of her as Sam walked on over to them, "I'm so glad you're here." He told her.

Out of everyone, Jude was there. She was the only one who had kept visiting. The only one who didn't fight with him or express her disappointment in him. And for that, he appreciated her a whole lot.

"I'm so glad you're out." Jude said, jumping back down onto the ground as Punk smiled.

"Boy, me too." Punk smiled, "Shit." He laughed as Jude smiled. It was hard, seeing how grown up she was. She wasn't that lazy little kid he used to drag out of bed in the mornings anymore.

"I'm sorry I haven't visited in so long." Jude said immediately, "I just… it's a long story-"

"Hey, you don't apologise to me, kid." Punk shook his head, wrapping his arm around her and kissing her head, "It's so damn good to see you." He nodded whilst Sam stood over and smiled.

He nodded to his mother who smiled, "You ok?" Sam asked him.

"Thank you for coming." Punk nodded to her. He found it ironic that the person who was never really there for him his entire life, had showed up at the time he needed someone the most. He was also grateful for that.

"The spare room is yours." Sam told him as Punk nodded with a smile.

"We're gonna take you for something to eat." Jude told him.

"Yeah?" Punk smiled.

"Yeah." Jude smiled, "Just because it was your birthday yesterday." She said as Punk smiled.

"Oh, just because of that?" Punk teased as she smiled.

"You can pick." Jude said as he smiled, kissing her head and heading out of the prisons grounds. Having Jude and his mother with him, filled his heart a lot, something he really needed upon leaving the hell he'd been in for eight years.

* * *

"Where is Jude?" AJ questioned, coming home from work and heading into the kitchen where Thea was sitting at the kitchen table doing college work. Cassie was in the living room watching TV.

"She went with Sam. To get dad." Thea said calmly.

"What?" AJ looked across at Thea.

"She's a big girl. She can make her own decisions." Thea told her mother.

In a way, Thea had become not only her daughter, but her side kick. She always picked up Cassie from school whenever AJ worked late, or she'd cook dinner some nights to give AJ a break, do any laundry or chores around the house. AJ appreciated that kind of help. But she also gave really good advice too.

"Why didn't you go?" AJ asked curiously.

"Didn't wanna see him." Thea said truthfully as AJ nodded, "What you gonna do about Cass?"

"What do you mean?" AJ asked her.

"Well she's never even met him." Thea said, "She doesn't know anything about him. And she's eight, she can't make any decisions for herself right now."

"Well then it's… it's up to your father." AJ shrugged, "If he wants to see her, he can reach out." She nodded, "I'm surprised Jude went."

"Are you kidding? Jude has been waiting for this day for years." Thea shook her head as AJ nodded, knowing that to be true.

"You got a lot of work?" AJ asked her as Thea nodded.

"I do, actually." Thea nodded, "Jackson is coming around to help me study." She told her mother.

"Help you study? You're studying medicine. He works in a car garage." AJ scoffed, "This is so much more important than boys." AJ pointed to her college work.

"I can have both. I'm a good multi-tasker." Thea assured her as AJ scoffed.

"So uh… where was Jude going after they... they picked him up?" AJ asked curiously.

"Well he's probably gonna stay with Sam so they'll go back to her place." Thea nodded, "You gonna go see him?" She looked up, watching her mother take a long pause before even thinking of an answer, "I can come back to you." Thea said.

"I don't know what to do." AJ said, "He's been gone so long. So long." She sighed to herself, "It's not like we even see eye to eye anymore." She shrugged.

"Whose fault is that?" Thea shook her head.

"Look, just because he's the one who was in prison doesn't mean you have to side with me on everything. I got this. I'm a big girl." AJ smiled, "You girls are old enough to decide your own opinion on your father. Jude has. I'm not gonna have anything to say about it."

"I know that, mom. But what he said to you wasn't fair. He always put you in this situation." Thea said, "If it wasn't him in prison when I was born, it's been him in prison for Cassie's entire life." Thea said, "He was dealing drugs, what did he expect?" Thea shook her head.

"It wasn't like that, not really." AJ said.

"I know what it was like. I know the whole story." Thea said as AJ nodded slowly, listening to the door open.

"T?" Jackson walked into the house.

"In here!" Thea called from the kitchen, closing all her books over.

"What are you doing?" AJ questioned.

"Going upstairs to study." Thea said.

"Thea." AJ said in a serious tone.

"What? I am." Thea shrugged as Jackson walked into the kitchen.

"Hey. I brought some donuts for you guys. For Jude and Cassie too." Jackson nodded, "I got your favourite." He nodded to AJ, handing her the bag over.

"You did." AJ nodded, impressed, "Thank you, sweetie." AJ smiled, sitting the donuts over as she watched Jackson say hello to Thea, kissing her as AJ turned around and took things out the fridge for dinner. Her daughter's relationship with her boyfriend was a whole other ball game.

* * *

"You've barely ate anything." Sam said, sitting in a diner with Jude and Punk later on.

"Yeah, I'm not really hungry." Punk admitted, "You didn't like sneak out to come get me, right?" He asked Jude.

"No, well… not really." Jude shrugged.

"What does that mean?" Punk laughed a little.

"Well Thea knows but I didn't tell mom." Jude said.

"It's fine." Sam assured Punk.

"I suppose you're old enough to… make your own decisions." Punk nodded to Jude who smiled, "So… how is school?" He asked her. He was really trying hard not to think about everything he'd missed out on seeing. He tried especially hard to forget he had a daughter that he hadn't even met. That was the toughest part.

"School is fine." Jude shrugged, "So like… are you out for good now?" Jude asked him.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm out for good." Punk nodded, "It's kind of embarrassing but I have a… a curfew." He said, "And I got this thing around my ankle, means that police know where I am." He said as Jude nodded slowly, "But after a couple months it'll come off and the curfew won't be a thing. As long as I'm behaving, I guess." He said as Jude nodded.

"Well you better." Jude smiled as Punk nodded.

"So… how is everyone?" Punk asked. It was only natural. Losing everything in his life didn't stop him from caring or loving.

"Everyone is good." Jude nodded, "Thea is still at college. Cassie just made the older soccer team. Means she might be able to go and play in Spain, which is frickin insane." Jude said happily, "Mom is good too." She added as Punk nodded.

"That's… that's all good." Punk smiled, "And what about Dean?" He asked.

"He's good." Jude nodded, "He really misses you." She said.

"Yeah well I was just a visit away." Punk said, "He stopped coming, just like everyone else." He nodded as Jude looked at him.

"It's all been hard on everyone." Sam jumped in.

"I wasn't having a vacation." Punk reminded her, "And I didn't ask to get into the mess I got in." He said.

"I know that." Sam nodded, "Trust me."

"I don't care if mom or… or Thea don't want to see you. I still wanna see you." Jude said. This was her father. And whilst everyone seemed to find reason to blame him, to argue with him, she just saw her father. The man who made her laugh, made her feel safe and put a smile on her face, "I can come stay at Sam's some nights, right?" She turned to Sam.

"Of course you can, sweetheart." Sam nodded.

"I'd love that." Punk smiled.

"I don't think any of this was your fault." Jude shook her head as Punk looked at her, "Everyone shouldn't be blaming you."

"Hey, listen Jude… I hold my hands up." Punk said, "I got caught up in bad shit, one hundred percent, but the reason behind it wasn't bad, I… I should have saw it coming, I know… and that's my foolish mistake, and because of that you guys suffered, your mom suffered, so I get why there's bitterness but… the mess I got into wasn't out of choice." He promised her. He would always own up to mistakes he made, and maybe being naïve was one of them.

"I know all of that." Jude nodded, "So does everyone else. They're just looking for someone to be mad at and you're… the perfect guy for it." She said.

"Is Thea mad at me?" Punk asked, "Last time I saw her she was… eighteen I think." Punk nodded.

"I don't know if she's mad at you or she's just confused." Jude said, "She doesn't really talk about it. She's got her mind on other things. Like-" She paused when she felt Sam nudge her a little, "Like college work." Jude nodded.

"Yeah, I don't really know where I'm going with all of this." Punk admitted. He wasn't insecure enough to admit he really felt lost. Sam could see that. Jude could see it."

"It'll… it'll be fine." Jude nodded, "I'm just glad you're out."

"Me too." Punk smiled, "I'm so glad you came. It really meant a lot to me." He nodded to her as Jude smiled.

"You wanna share an ice-cream?" Jude asked him as Punk smiled.

"Sure." Punk smiled, "You still like those banana split things? You loved them as a kid." Punk smiled, looking at the menu as Jude looked with him whilst Sam watched.

She wasn't sure how any of this was going to go down. She just knew it wasn't going to be easy.


	28. Scared

**Scared**

* * *

"Hey, I appreciate you letting me stay here." Punk nodded, walking into the kitchen where his mother was sitting. It was strange being back in the house he grew up in. The house he hated very much. But he was still grateful to his mother for letting him stay.

"What was I gonna do? Let you sleep on the streets?" Sam asked him, "You stay here as long as you need." She nodded as Punk smiled.

"It's not really sunk in." Punk admitted, "I mean from the minute I got told I was getting out, it's been like a hazy dream." He said, "And then seeing Jude today… it didn't feel real. Still doesn't." He shook his head as Sam nodded.

"Little bit different than last time, huh?" Sam nodded.

"A lot different." Punk sighed to himself, "A year was a lot. Eight? That's… that's insane." He shook his head as Sam nodded, "I've missed everything. Everything." He shook his head.

"Phil, you got time." Sam nodded.

"I'm forty years old. I got three kids. One likes me, one hates me, one doesn't know me." Punk said, "My wife is… probably resenting me for everything. My brother is pretty much done with me." Punk nodded to himself.

"Dean isn't done with you." Sam said, "He'll come see you. He's missed you."

"Well then where was he?" Punk questioned.

"He's got a family. A job. He'll come." Sam assured him, "As for April, I really don't know where her head is at. She's hard to read at the best of times."

"Yeah, I know that." Punk said, "It's not like I chose to go to prison. I got caught out. By a fucking kid." He rolled his eyes as Sam nodded to him, "And yeah, I know, I shouldn't have been doing it in the first place but I was in that mess because of her fucking parents."

"They moved back to Puerto Rico." Sam said.

"Of course they fucking did." Punk nodded, "I assume it was right after I was arrested?"

"Yeah, not long. April went and tore them to shreds, if it helps." Sam said, "And then they left. Marina has also been gone ever since. But what did we expect? It's what people like her do, they move around until there's a scare, then they move along. Last thing we knew was she was in New York." Sam said.

"Does April hate me?" Punk asked, "You guys are obviously close."

"We're not really close. I'm close with Thea and Jude. I don't really see Cassie much either." She admitted, "I don't think April hates you. I think she's tired. I think the thought of you coming back just means you'll be gone again at one point. I mean that's twice she's had a baby on her own-"

"That's not my fault." Punk said, "Maybe… ok, maybe the first time. Yeah. I was a kid and I was putting myself in that risky situation. But not this time. We'd moved on, we were happy-"

"I know you were." Sam nodded.

"What the hell am I even supposed to do?" Punk said, "I have a kid I haven't even met." He shook his head, "What the hell do I even say to her? Will April let me see her?"

"I don't know. It's not up to me." Sam said truthfully, "Cassie is a lot like Jude. She's laid back. No bullshit as Dean always says." She smiled, "She's sweet." She nodded as Punk sighed to himself, "You want my honest opinion?"

"Go on." Punk nodded.

"Don't worry about Cassie. Don't worry about Jude." Sam said.

"And then there was one." Punk nodded to himself.

"Thea… she's got a way with her words. Make you feel really small. Just… be prepared." Sam nodded.

"She's twenty one. I… she has every right to not want anything to do with me. I've missed so much of her life. I still got time with Cassie, and even Jude." He nodded, "But… Thea, she's like a grown adult now."

"Who very well might still need her dad." Sam nodded.

"And what about April?" Punk asked.

"That's gotta be between you and her. I don't know where her head is at." Sam said truthfully, "She's had some boyfriends over the past few years."

"Great." Punk nodded to himself.

"Well… you weren't expecting her to wait, were you?" Sam asked.

"No." Punk said honestly, "No, I wasn't." He said, "But I figured since I never got divorce papers sent to me, maybe… I don't know, maybe she was still holding out."

"Yeah, I'm not sure why she never sent for divorce." Sam said truthfully, listening on as the door opened.

"Ma?" Dean called, walking through the house.

"Kitchen." Sam said, lighting up a cigarette as Dean came walking into the kitchen, pausing when he saw Punk standing. His big brother. Someone he'd really found it difficult to live without. Extremely difficult.

"Phil." Dean raised his eyebrows as Punk looked at him.

"Hey, man." Punk nodded, watching as Dean walked over and wrapped his arms around him tightly.

"Fuck, I can't believe you're out." Dean said, embracing Punk tightly as Punk hugged him back.

"I got your letter." Punk said, "So I… I'm gonna stay here until I get set up somewhere." He said as Dean pulled back.

"Hey, man… I… I would have let you come stay on the couch or whatever, it's just… Renee got all funny with me and, with the kids around she was just a little worried that-"

"Worried that what?" Punk asked, hurt.

"Well we didn't know how you'd be." Dean said, "And April is over at the house a lot and she just thought that maybe it'd be a bad idea-"

"Yeah? Send my kindest regards to my sister in law." Punk nodded bitterly.

"Hey, come on… don't be like that. She's so glad you're out." Dean nodded, "We all are. You look… you look good."

"I feel like I'm sixty years old." Punk told them truthfully. He did feel older than his years. Eight years in prison had really taken a toll on him, as one would only expect. He didn't look all that different, more grey in his beard, but nothing had drastically changed.

"You gonna go see April?" Dean asked him.

"I have no idea what I'm doing." Punk admitted, "I saw Jude today. Which was nice."

"Yeah?" Dean smiled, "Yeah, that kid has been counting down the days." Dean nodded as Punk looked at him.

"Why'd you stop visiting me?" Punk asked. He had to ask. Seeing his brother here, hugging him, smiling, happy to see him… it left him puzzled. Puzzled as to why he stopped visiting him, "Was that Renee's decision too?"

"Yeah, well our youngest kid, Jack, he's six and he was starting to ask where I was going. Renee didn't really want me to say-"

"You could have made shit up." Punk said, "No one came to see me in the past three years. Besides Jude. And last time I checked, I never did anything wrong." Punk said.

"You were dealing drugs, Phil." Dean said, "That's wrong."

"So were you." Punk spat, "I was doing it for you, for April, so you two didn't have to, so Marina would get off our backs." He said, "I didn't wanna do that shit-"

"Are you sure?" Dean questioned as Punk glared at him.

"Fuck you." Punk spat, "Fucking asshole." He shoved past Dean, deliberately pushing him as Dean pushed back, both of them getting into a childish pushing war as Sam stood up.

"Enough!" Sam shrieked, getting in between them both, "Dean, maybe you should go home. Phil needs a few days. He's just got out today."

"Whatever." Dean shook his head.

"I took the blame for everyone and suddenly I'm the bad guy?" Punk questioned, "If it wasn't me, it would have been you, or April, or all of us." Punk said, "Don't you fucking forget that." Punk spat, walking out of the kitchen as Dean turned to his mother.

"Give him space." Sam advised to Dean.

* * *

"Hey." Thea knocked on Jude's bedroom door, walking on in where her sister was watching something on her laptop.

"Hi." Jude said, taking her earphones out and sitting her laptop over, "If you wanna know how dad is, you should just go talk to him." Jude shrugged.

"I wanna know how you are, actually." Thea said, "Did you feel better talking to him?"

"Well… yeah. He's my dad." Jude said, "I don't know why everybody makes him out to be some monster." She shook her head.

"No one is making him out to be a monster." Thea shook her head, "He's just been gone a really long time, that's all."

"Well now he's out." Jude said as Thea nodded slowly.

"Where is he staying?" Thea asked.

"With Sam." Jude said, "I'm gonna stay over on Friday night. I wish I could take Cass with me."

"No, just… just you go. That's something a lot more complicated. Something mom needs to… figure out." Thea nodded, "How… how does he look?" She asked curiously.

"The same." Jude shook her head with confusion, "He's not eighty. He doesn't look any different."

"He's not like… beat up or anything, right?" Thea asked.

"No." Jude said, "He's a little skinny but… nothing some pizza and burgers won't fix." Jude said, "What is mom saying about it? She gonna see him?"

"I don't know what she's doing." Thea shrugged, "It has to be her decision."

"Do you think they could get back together?" Jude asked as Thea looked at her.

"I… I don't know. I wouldn't hold your breath." Thea shook her head.

"Why aren't you going to see him? He's not done anything wrong." Jude said.

"He's not been here, Jude. For anything. Mom's been doing this alone. You get involved in shady business, this is what happens to you." Thea said, "And he knew that. He knew what he was risking."

"It wasn't his fault, Thea." Jude shook her head, "Everyone is mad at him and I don't know why. It's not fair." She shook her head angrily. She was angry with her sister and mother. She knew what happened with her father, all the details, but it was still her dad and she still loved him. She didn't understand why everyone had turned their back on him.

"What's not fair?" AJ walked into the room with some clean washing.

"Nothing." Jude mumbled.

"If you're talking about your father, don't stop on my account." AJ made clear, "You girls wanna go see him, I sure as hell won't stop you." She promised, opening up Jude's dresser and putting away the clean clothes.

"Cassie deserves to see him too." Jude told her mother.

"That's something for me and your father to discuss." AJ nodded.

"You're gonna talk to him?" Thea asked.

"Well it's gonna happen at one point." AJ said, "How… how is he?" She asked Jude who just nodded.

"He's ok." Jude said, "I'm staying with him on Friday, at Sam's." Jude said as AJ nodded.

"Ok." AJ nodded, "Get to bed soon, ok?" She smiled, leaning over and kissing Jude's head, walking out of the room as Thea looked over at Jude.

"She's not even bothering." Jude said, "It's like she doesn't care."

"She does." Thea nodded, "She just looks like she's in shock." Thea said, "He's not been here in eight years. That's… that's a long ass time."

"Yeah, it is." Jude said, "What's stopping you from going to see him?"

"I needed a dad years ago. I don't now." Thea shrugged.

"You're bullshit." Jude laughed, putting one of her earphones back in, "You're scared." Jude concluded as Thea looked at her.

"Of what?" Thea laughed.

"Seeing him." Jude nodded, putting her other earphone back in, "Close my door on the way out." Jude ordered as Thea looked over at her, eventually leaving the room and closing the door.

She was scared. She was terrified actually.


	29. Shut Down

**Shut Down**

* * *

"No… please start." Thea frowned, trying to start the car outside college the next day, "Please… please." She begged, continuing to turn the key as she listened to the engine refusing to start up. It wasn't the first time her car had broken down.

"I swear…" Thea scoffed to herself, getting out of the car, slamming the door over with attitude as she walked around to the hood, pulling it up and looking at the different parts. It was already super late, getting dark outside. She had stayed late at college to finish off work and there was barely anyone left in the car park.

"Why don't you ever work for me?" She frowned, looking under the hood, not even understanding what she was looking at.

She took her phone out and called her boyfriend, keeping a hold of the hood up with her hand.

"Hey, it's me." Thea said after he picked up, "My car isn't working again." She told him, listening to him on the line, "What do you mean what did I do? I didn't do anything." Thea snapped, "The question is, what did you do the last time you supposedly fixed it?" She scoffed.

She listened as Jackson gave her instructions, but being as flustered as she was, she didn't really take anything in, "The car isn't starting, you're not listening to me." Thea rolled her eyes, listening as he hung up, "Did he just…" She gasped, looking at her phone and shaking her head.

She kept a hold of the hood, looking on at the engine and sighing to herself, lifting her head when she heard someone approaching, turning around and spotting he father standing.

"Shit." She whispered to herself, clenching the hood of the car as she looked at him.

Punk looked across at her, taken back by how grown up she was. She wasn't a kid anymore, or his little girl. She was an adult. A grown adult.

"Hey." Punk gulped, looking across at her as she stared at him.

"Why are you here?" Thea questioned, looking at him as he adjusted his cap, "Are you stalking me?"

"I'm not stalking you." Punk scoffed, "Sam told me you stay late on Thursday's. I didn't wanna come to the house because… well, you know." He said, "But I wanted to see you."

"Well, you've saw me. You can go now." Thea said coldly as Punk looked at her. She couldn't believe he was really there. Her initial reaction was to push him as far away as she could. Because having back, brought the fear of him going away again.

"You know you don't have to keep a hold of that." Punk pointed as Thea looked at him, "Can I…" He pointed, walking over to the car, taking the hood of the car and grabbing the stick at the side of the car to keep it held up, "Keeps it up for you." He showed her as Thea looked at him.

He oddly didn't look any different. He was still the same father she loved and remembered. That's why it was so difficult after all this time, to see him out.

"I don't need your help." Thea made clear.

"Maybe not." Punk nodded, "So this is the college you go to?" He asked as Thea screwed her face up.

"What the hell are you doing?" Thea questioned, "What do you think this is? Catch up time?" She asked him as Punk looked at her. She had the exact same fighting attitude as her mother, "You don't come back after eight years and just walk back into our lives. Not mine anyway." She said.

"Then tell me what you want me to do, Thea. I'm all ears." Punk said.

"I want you to leave me alone." Thea said, "That's what I want."

"You really want that?" Punk asked.

"Yes. I do." Thea said, "What use are you to me anyway?" She spat as Punk looked at her. Those hurtful words that his mother warned him about, appeared to be spilling out, "Won't be long until your back in prison for another eight years." She said, "What's the damn point?" She spat.

"I won't, trust me." Punk said.

"Yeah, you said that the first time, I'm sure." Thea said, "I can't begin to tell you how much you've missed. And I don't mean Christmas' and birthdays." She said, "You don't even know Cassie."

"Thea, you're acting like I wanted this." Punk said, "Like I chose to leave."

"You got yourself into shit, what did you expect?" Thea spat, "Mom had to raise all three of us on her own."

"I would have been here if I could. You know that." Punk said.

"Could have, should have. Doesn't mean anything now." Thea said.

"Why am I the bad guy in all of this?" Punk questioned, "I took the fall for everyone. I wasn't the only one in the mess, your mom was too." He said, "If you need someone to blame, and it's me, then go ahead, but I am not a bad person-"

"You were a drug dealer." Thea laughed, "Don't make me laugh." She glared at him.

"I didn't have a choice-"

"You did the first time." Thea said, "Mom told me all about you, when you were younger, how when she told you she was pregnant with me… you didn't give a shit." Thea nodded, "And then you cheated on her." She nodded, "But yeah, you're totally not a bad guy at all-"

"What is she trying to do? Get you girls to hate me?" Punk questioned.

"No, she doesn't need to help me with that." Thea assured him, "She lets us make up our own minds about you." She nodded.

"And yours is already made up?" Punk questioned.

"Yeah. It is." Thea said, "I can live without a dad." She nodded coldly as Punk looked at her.

"Thea, I'm not going anywhere-"

"You expect me to believe that?" Thea asked.

"No, I don't… but I believe myself when I say that. I'm gonna be here. For Jude, for Cassie… if you wanna fight with me, fine. But I'm not going anywhere." He made clear, "I know I got a lot of shit to make up for-"

"You don't even know the half of it." Thea said, taking her phone out and calling her mom, "Hey, my car isn't working again." Thea explained on the phone to her mother as Punk watched, slowly making his way around the car and getting into the driver's seat without Thea noticing, "I don't know what's wrong with it." Thea spoke to her mother.

She then jumped when she heard the car starting up, turning around as she saw Punk get out of the car, "I'll call you back." Thea told her mother.

"The key was jammed." Punk nodded to her, walking away out of the car park as Thea watched him, sighing to herself and running her hands over her face.

* * *

"Well you didn't lie." Punk said, walking into Sam's house, "She's cold as ice." He groaned, walking into the living room, scratching the back of his neck, pausing when he saw AJ standing in the living room.

"I'm gonna give you both space." Sam nodded, standing up from the couch and leaving the living room as Punk looked across at her.

The last time they saw each other was a few years ago, during a prison visit, which ended in a fight that they hadn't quite made up from. AJ was glad to see him appearing healthy, on the outside at least.

"W-What… what are you doing here?" Punk asked her. She was still drop dead gorgeous. And even after all this time, all of the shit they'd been through, it never changed how he felt about her. There was no falling out of love or giving up. He didn't know if she felt the same, if she was scared to admit it, but he definitely felt it.

"I uh…" AJ gulped, not really knowing what to say. She was definitely in shock, seeing him again, out of prison surroundings. So much had changed. Not just little things. So much.

"I didn't think you'd wanna see me." Punk admitted. He really didn't.

"I'm here for Cassie." AJ nodded, "I let Thea and Jude decide their own things, their old enough, they actually know you. I don't tell them how to feel or what to do." She made clear, "Cassie is eight." She reminded him, "And she doesn't know anything about you."

"I figured." Punk said.

"I'm just here to let you know I'm not going to shut you out from her life. If you want to meet her-"

"If I want to meet her? My daughter?" Punk questioned, "Was there a doubt in your mind that I wouldn't?" He asked with confusion.

"Well I don't know where your head is at, Phil." AJ said, folding her arms.

"Yes. I want to meet her." Punk clarified as AJ nodded.

"Then we'll figure it out." AJ nodded to him, about to take off.

"Woah… is that it?" Punk questioned, "Eight years and… you got nothing else to say to me?" He asked as she paused.

"What do you want me to say?" AJ asked him, "How messy this whole thing is? How we broke up our own family?"

"Well I'm glad you're using we instead of pointing the finger at me, which is… weirdly what everyone seems to be doing." Punk said.

"I'm not in denial. I'm not gonna start yelling at you and telling you that you're a terrible person. It could have been me. Could have been both of us. It was gonna be me at one point." She remembered, "And it was my own parents who got us into the mess but the… the truth of the matter is, we made our reputations on our own. Maybe if you hadn't gotten so involved with Rio back in the day then-"

"And it's back to being all my fault again." Punk nodded to himself, "No, I get it. You all want someone to blame and I fit the mould perfectly."

"That's not what it is." AJ shook her head as Punk looked at her.

"It is." Punk said, "Blame me all you want. If it helps you sleep at night." He shrugged, "But I wasn't in this mess alone. I think you all forget that."

"I tried to get us out of it, many times." AJ said, "You didn't-"

"Don't even play that card with me." Punk shook his head, "Don't go there."

"Then I won't." AJ put her hands up.

"And thanks for airing my dirty laundry to my daughter's. I appreciate things like that. As if I'm not already a disappointment to them." Punk smiled angrily to her.

"I told them everything there is to know. Like they deserve." AJ said, "Like I said, they make their own decisions."

"Yeah, Thea's made up hers." Punk nodded.

"And so has Jude." AJ reminded him, "She loves you. She defends you every chance she gets."

"You don't understand how much that means to me. Right now." Punk said, "I have never changed who I am. You know that."

"You've not changed. Everything around you has." AJ nodded, "You missed so much."

"And you wanna make me feel guilty about that?" Punk questioned as AJ looked at him.

"No. No, I'm just telling you. You've missed a lot of things." AJ said, "And yet again I had a baby on my own, I had to raise three girls on my own." She looked at him. She promised herself she wouldn't cry, and she wasn't.

"You say that like I walked out on you." Punk said, "I mean it was some dumb kid that done this. It took me years to get over that. Everyone split and yet again, Phil is there to take the fall. Same as the first time."

"No, the first time you were put in prison was because you enjoyed selling drugs." AJ said, "That was your downfall. That's where all of this started."

"Maybe you're right." Punk nodded, "But I redeemed myself from that. I did the work. I got better and we were good. It was your damn parents who ruined it. You wanna be mad at someone, be mad at them."

"I am." AJ said, "And believe me, I went through both of them." AJ nodded, "But… it doesn't matter who I can be mad at. Whether it's you, my parents, myself… you've not been here and that really sucked for all of us." She said, "Especially Thea."

"Why especially Thea?" Punk questioned.

"She was a thirteen year old girl watching her father, who she loved, get sent to prison for eight years. That messes with a kid's head, Phil." AJ let him know.

"Yeah well staring at the same four walls for eight years messes with your head too." Punk nodded.

"I can only imagine." AJ nodded.

"Don't you think it kills me? Knowing just how much I missed. I mean I try not to think about it because it fucks me up so much." He said, "So don't worry. I know I've missed a lot of things. That's not gonna scare me away from trying to piece things back together."

"I know." AJ said, "I have to pick Cassie up from soccer practise so… I have to go." She told him, "I'll call, I guess." She said as Punk watched her.

"What about us?" He asked as she paused at the living room door, turning around.

"Us?" AJ shook her head with confusion, "There is no us." She said honestly as Punk looked across at her, "We're… we're really done this time." She nodded, walking out of the living room and leaving the house as Punk groaned, running his hands through his hair and sighing.


	30. Sides

**Sides**

* * *

"Hey, did you get your car started? You never called me back." AJ said, getting home later that night, "Go get ready for dinner." She told Cassie, placing a kiss on her head as Cassie headed upstairs to get changed.

"I… I got it started." Thea nodded, "I'm not long home." She said as AJ walked into the kitchen where Jude was sitting at the table, working on her science project.

"Oh, did you girls start dinner?" AJ smiled, noticing that dinner was already made.

"I did." Jude said, "Thea watched." She scoffed.

"I had work to do, which is way more important than your stupid science project." Thea said as Jude rolled her eyes, ignoring her sister as she always did, and had always done since she was very little.

"How was Cassie's game?" Thea asked as AJ hung her coat up in the cupboard.

"It was good." AJ smiled, "Her team lost but… she's so cool about it." AJ nodded, "How was college?"

"Boring." Thea nodded, "Surprised I've lasted this long."

"Hey, you're doing great." AJ smiled proudly, "You're gonna make the best… doctor or pharmacist ever." She nodded.

"I wouldn't trust her to make up my medicine." Jude scoffed.

"I will sit on that science project." Thea warned as Jude gave her an evil smirk.

"So what was wrong with your car?" AJ shook her head.

"Oh, it was just… the key, I don't know really." Thea shrugged, "I called Jackson about it and the son of a bitch hung up on me." She shook her head.

"Is he coming over?" AJ asked.

"No, not tonight." Thea said, "We're going out tomorrow night."

"I'm going to dad's tomorrow night." Jude reminded them both deliberately.

"Oh… Cassie has a sleepover tomorrow." AJ realised, "Wow, I… I don't think I've been in the house myself in a long time." She shook her head as Jude and Thea looked across at her.

"Isn't this a good thing?" Jude wondered.

"A night off from all three of you? Obviously." AJ teased, "Weird, though."

"Have a date over." Thea smiled as Jude looked over at Thea with a stern look of disapproval.

"I'm a little over the dating thing." AJ laughed to herself.

"Yeah, you're way too old for that." Jude agreed.

"Thanks." AJ laughed, "I think I'll just enjoy a night to myself." She said, plating up dinner as Thea took a seat beside Jude.

"What the hell even is this?" Thea looked at the science project.

"It's a combination of the solar system and wind energy but I used papier-mâché to make it 3D." Jude explained as Thea raised a brow.

"You're so lame." Thea shook her head as Jude took her project and sat it over out of the way.

"I think it's amazing, baby." AJ said as Jude smiled.

"Thanks, mom." Jude said as Cassie came into the kitchen.

"Hey, baller." Thea smiled, "How was your game?" She asked.

"It was good." Cassie nodded, sitting up at the table with her sisters, "I got a goal but my team lost." She shrugged.

"Don't be too bummed." Jude nodded to her.

Thea and Jude would fight and tease each other all day long, but when it came to Cassie, they both mutually protected her and looked out for her. It was just different.

"No one is getting ice-cream after unless they eat their veg." AJ made clear, sitting the plates down to them.

"I'm literally twenty-one." Thea scoffed.

"My house, my rules, babe." AJ smiled, getting them a drink before eventually taking a seat herself, "Wait, before we start eating." AJ said as Jude spat her carrot back out, "Jude." AJ scoffed as the teen shrugged.

"What? I'm hungry." Cassie folded her arms.

"So… I saw your father tonight." AJ told them. All three of them. It was the first time she'd properly addressed Punk in front of Cassie.

"You did?" Jude raised her eyebrows whilst Thea said nothing.

"I did." AJ nodded, turning to Cassie who seemed confused.

"I thought my dad died." Cassie mumbled as AJ raised her eyebrows.

"What? No… No, baby. He didn't… he didn't die." AJ shook her head, turning to Jude and Thea, "Who told you that?" She asked, looking at Thea and Jude with disappointment. She only figured it was one of them.

"I… I asked one of your boyfriends if… if they were my dad and they said my dad died." Cassie shrugged.

"Which one?" Thea asked angrily.

"Calm down." AJ told Thea, "No, baby… your dad didn't die." AJ shook her head.

"Oh." Cassie said.

"He's here now so… if you want to meet him, you can." AJ nodded to her, "You can meet your dad." She assured her. It was very strange explaining this to Cassie, who was so unaware of all of it.

"Not on my own." Cassie shook her head.

"I'll come." Jude smiled as Cassie nodded, feeling a little better.

"Or I can come." AJ added, tucking Cassie's hair behind her ear, "Whatever you want." She nodded.

"Ok." Cassie nodded, "Can I eat now?" She asked her mother.

"Y-Yeah. Yeah, sure." AJ smiled, turning around to Jude and Thea.

Any other kid may have had questions, but not Cassie. She was a very take things as they come type of person. She certainly wasn't judgemental, and AJ didn't doubt that she wouldn't have been curious to meet her father.

"What'd he say?" Thea asked curiously.

"Not much." AJ said briefly, "Like I said, you two make your own decisions. You know everything there is to know. If you want to go see him, spend the day with him, whatever… just, let me know your safe and that's all I ask." AJ nodded to them both.

"We should all be seeing him." Jude mumbled, "He needs people right now."

"He's with Sam." AJ said calmly.

"Who he doesn't even get along with." Jude said, "We're his family." She said with frustration, "He's been in prison for eight years. He needs support right now."

"Then you go support him." Thea snapped, "Leave us out of it."

"Thea." AJ warned.

"He did no worse than what you did." Jude looked across at her mother, "Only difference was he got caught."

"Baby, I know that's how you feel. And that's true but… we all want different things. He's been gone for a very long time. I think it's important that you girls see him, of course I do, but it's also ok if you don't." AJ nodded.

"What about you? What do you want?" Thea asked.

"I don't want to be with your father." AJ made clear as Jude looked at her.

"You're such a liar." Jude shook her head, beginning to play with her food, "You don't date someone since you're sixteen, go through all this shit, and then not care about them anymore-"

"I never said I didn't care about him." AJ said.

"You kinda did." Jude said.

"We all feel different." AJ said, "This whole thing started way before the last eight years. It started when me and your dad were kids. I'm just exhausted of it." She told them truthfully.

"People can make mistakes." Jude shrugged.

"They can. You're right." AJ nodded, "It's very obvious we all feel different about this. And that's fine." She said, "Like I said, I'm leaving it up to you girls. I'll be there to help Cassie, but you girls are old enough to do what you want." She nodded.

"I don't want anything to do with him." Thea said, "I needed my dad years ago. Not now."

"When you were a little crackhead?" Jude said, to be nasty of course.

"Jude." AJ said angrily as Thea turned to Jude.

"I'm not hungry." Jude said, getting up from the table and walking off as Thea played with her food.

"She didn't mean that." AJ sighed.

"It's fine." Thea shook her head, "She can still get quality time with him as a kid." Thea understood, "I missed out on that. I'm not gonna get it back." She shrugged as AJ looked across at her.

"You don't need to close any doors yet." AJ reminded her.

"I know." Thea said.

"What's my dad like?" Cassie asked, joining back into the conversation after zoning out.

"You can take this one." Thea nodded to AJ.

* * *

"Hey, it's just me!" Jude called, walking into Sam's house the next night after getting home from school, kicking her shoes off at the door, carrying her science project through to the kitchen, "Hey." She smiled as she saw her father.

"Hey." Punk laughed a little, "What in God's name is this?" He shook his head, giving her a half hug to avoid knocking the important science project out of her hands.

"It's my science project. Solar system meets wind energy." She explained, sitting it down on the table, "But I'm making it 3D because it looks so much better." She nodded as Punk smiled.

"It looks really good." Punk nodded, "How long did you spend on this?"

"Oh, it's not finished yet." Jude said, dumping her overnight backpack over, "I stated it three weeks ago."

"It's really cool. Are these the planets?" He pointed.

"Yes, that's Mars." She showed him, "Jupiter." She pointed, "Uranus." She showed as Punk sniggered as she looked at him, "Yes Uranus ha ha." She nodded sarcastically as Punk smiled.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Punk asked.

"Yeah, you're gonna help me paint it." Jude nodded, "Uh… where is Sam?"

"She's out for the night." Punk nodded, "You ate? I was gonna get pizza." He said.

"I could eat pizza." Jude nodded, "Bust a menu out." She said as Punk brought the menu over to her.

To have Jude's company and support meant so much to him. She was so warm and comforting to him. They had always shared a unique bond, even through prison visits over the years. He really appreciated her sticking by him. It was just still very difficult to comprehend that this was his little girl. When he left she was just six. He still read her stories before bedtime and helped her in the bath. It was so much time that he'd lost with her. With all of them.

"What do you want?" Punk asked her.

"Ok, get a pizza. Chicken wings. Mozzarella sticks and make sure you get the sauce that comes with it. Fries too."

"No way we're gonna eat all of that." Punk laughed.

"Hey… I can eat." Jude assured him fiercely, even though she was built like her mother.

"Alright." Punk laughed.

* * *

"No kidding, you can really eat." Punk laughed later that night, sitting at the table where Jude had ate a lot more food than what he ever thought, "Where the hell are you storing it?"

"I got a fast metabolism." Jude nodded, having made short work of the chicken wings and mozzarella sticks, as well as a few slices of pizza.

She'd brought out her science project, giving her father a paint brush and of course telling him which parts had to be painted which colours.

"So you like art?" Punk asked her.

"Love it." Jude smiled, "It's my favourite class. So anytime in another class I try make it as arty as I can. For example." She pointed to the science project as Punk smiled.

"It's really good. Do you get like a prize or something for it?" He asked her. Just being able to sit and talk to his daughter, something that to a lot of people, seemed so mundane, meant so much to him.

"I don't know actually." Jude said, "I don't care about winning. I just like making it." She smiled, "I decorated my bedroom at home. Painted the walls." She nodded to him.

"Yeah?" Punk smiled.

"Mom was nervous about it but it looks kinda good." Jude nodded.

"So you're telling me you don't got the Barbie room anymore?" Punk asked.

"I love Barbie but she had to go." Jude nodded as Punk chuckled. In a weird way, she really hadn't changed. She still had that exhilarating, outgoing, bubbly personality but with the confidence to not care what people thought of her.

"So art school? Is that in the cards for you?" He asked, making sure he painted her project with great care.

"I'd love to." Jude said, "I really don't wanna do anything with numbers… or letters actually." Jude said as Punk smiled, "I see Thea stressing about written exams and stuff… I'm not about that." She shook her head.

"She still studying medicine?" Punk asked.

"Yeah. Her third year." Jude said as Punk nodded, "Are you and Sam getting along?" She asked curiously.

"Yeah, we are actually." Punk said, "I know you probably know that we… we're not the closest but, I appreciate her letting me stay with her. And she's giving me my space." He nodded, "I got a job interview next week."

"You do? That's good." Jude smiled, "What job?" She asked, filling her paint pallet back up with more paint.

"It's an old job I used to have, working on the construction sites." Punk said, "It's a lot of blue print stuff, you might find that cool."

"Oh, that is cool." Jude nodded, "You feeling good about it?" She asked him.

"Yeah, I think it'll get me on my feet." Punk nodded, "I know everything seems to be falling apart around me."

"I don't know why everyone is acting like you're evil." Jude scoffed, "You need people around you right now." She said as Punk listened to her closely, "I couldn't imagine being gone for so long and… coming back out into the world." She said, "It'd be scary. Aren't you scared?" She asked him.

"I'm terrified." Punk laughed nervously as she nodded.

"They all just wanna blame you for all the hurting." Jude said, "You don't deserve that." She shook her head.

"You know it's… it's not a me vs them thing. You don't have to pick who to side with. It's a shitty situation, I know-"

"I love my mom and my sisters." Jude assured him, "But you're my dad. I love you too." She said honestly as Punk smiled.

"I love you too, sweetheart." Punk nodded as she smiled across at him. When he felt like he didn't have anything left, Jude showed him he really did. He had more than he even thought. Not even eight years of hell made him want to give up on his family.

"You better be staying to the colour codes." Jude warned him as Punk smiled and nodded.

"Don't worry, I am." Punk said. Tonight was a good night.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys!**


	31. Let It Out and Let It In

**Let It Out and Let It In**

* * *

"Morning." Punk laughed a little, walking into the kitchen the next morning where he saw Jude standing up on one of the kitchen counters, rubbing his eyes tiredly as he watched her jump back down.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Jude asked.

"No, I was up anyway." Punk assured her, "I didn't know you wore glasses." He noticed.

"I'm blind as a bat." Jude laughed, "I haven't put my contacts in." She said, "I'm gonna make breakfast but I can't find the pancake mixer thing." She explained.

"Yeah, I don't think Sam has one of those." Punk laughed a little, "Gotta do it the old fashioned way." He said.

"Shit, I don't got arm muscles." Jude groaned, grabbing a bowl out to start making the pancakes.

"Did this thing dry in ok?" Punk asked, looking over at Jude's science project, sitting over by the window.

"I think so. It looks fine." Jude nodded, pouring some flour into the bowl as it puffed up and went all over her glasses. She had a chuckle to herself and carried on.

They spent last night painting Jude's project and then watching a movie. It wouldn't sink in for Punk that he was actually getting to spend quality time with his daughter. He went to bed with a smile on his face. Even though everything else wasn't perfect, it was enough to give him a positive lift.

"Are you weighing any of that stuff out?" Punk chuckled, noticing she was just throwing ingredients in.

"No." Jude scoffed, "Mom says the best way to make pancakes is to wing it." She nodded.

"She did always say that." Punk remembered, making himself a coffee.

"She's gonna let Cassie come with me, you know." Jude said as Punk turned to her, "She talked to Cassie about it the other night, told her she could meet you. I think Cassie will like you." She nodded to herself.

"I hope so." Punk laughed a little, "I got time with Cassie, so if there's anything positive I can take out of it, it's that. I can… I can be there for her now. I can even be there for you. I know we lost time but…" He shrugged, "Thea, on the other hand…"

"Is difficult." Jude finished for him.

"You two still fight?" Punk smiled a little.

"No more than the average sisters." Jude said, "She's just mad because it's easier." She nodded, grabbing a wooden spoon to mix the pancake batter she'd made.

"You reckon there's anything I can do?" Punk asked her.

"I don't know." Jude said, "I love her, don't get me wrong, but she can be a bitch." She nodded, "I think she's just scared of you being back in her life and then… potentially leaving it again."

"You know I'm not gonna do that, right?" He nodded to Jude.

"I know that." Jude smiled, "But she doesn't. I guess I had the benefit of being kinda young when it all went down. She remembers all of it." Jude nodded, "And she has her own problems."

"What do you mean?" Punk asked curiously as Jude paused her mixing for a second.

"Just… college and stuff." Jude said quickly, "She's grown up."

"Yeah." Punk sighed, "Look, I get if you girls are mad at me for missing your lives, I don't blame you. The truth is, I should have been here, and my own mistakes lead me down a path that I just… I couldn't get out of. But… I wasn't on that path alone. Your mom was with me in all of this, so was Dean."

"I know." Jude said, "I feel like me and you are the only ones who see it that way." She shook her head, "Don't worry, I'm mad at both of you for the things you got involved with. Whether it was out of choice or not. It was dangerous." She made clear as Punk nodded.

Yes, he was getting life lessons from his fourteen year old daughter. And yes, he was taking any advice she had to give.

"You got any idea why everyone seems to point the finger at only me?" Punk asked her.

"Because it's easy." Jude nodded, "Convenient. I think with Thea and mom, it comes down to how you got into the mess in the first place, which was because you openly… dealt drugs when you were younger. That's where it started." She said as Punk nodded. Clearly his two eldest daughter's had been told the whole truth, and he wasn't mad about it, he just hated that they had to think of him that way.

"Jude, I got better. I did my time and I got back. We moved into a house. We got good jobs. We got married and had you. Things were so much better. It's not like it's always followed us around." Punk explained.

"I know." Jude nodded, "But it's easy to see it stemming back to what happened when you were young. Mom said you liked… you liked it-"

"It was different." Punk said immediately, "It was just me and your mom. You girls weren't here. I was a young kid. And we had no home."

"I know. She's told us everything." Jude nodded to him as Punk sighed.

"I was trying to protect your mom. It's all I've ever did." Punk said, "We didn't have a choice eight years ago." He said, "But your mom still blames me?"

"It's complicated." Jude nodded, "I think you gotta just focus on the positives. You're out now. You're gonna see Cass. You got a job. You got me. Somewhere to stay." She listed, "Things could be worse."

"I know." Punk sighed to himself, "It's hard to believe I'm actually out."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Jude nodded.

"Do you think Thea will ever… let me in?" Punk asked her, helping her with the pancake batter as she took a pan out onto the stove.

"Maybe. I don't know." Jude said, "She's sort of hard to reach at the best of times."

"I can't believe she's twenty one." Punk shook his head, "I still remember holding her as a baby." He sighed to himself.

"Does this mix look right?" Jude wondered as Punk looked at it.

"Well, given the fact you're winging it, it looks as it should." Punk said, "Careful with the pan, don't burn yourself." He said.

"Really? I was just thinking of putting my hand on it." Jude nodded sarcastically.

"Funny." Punk nudged her, "Jude, I really don't want you to put you in a position where you're in between me and your mom. I… I don't want that-"

"Mom doesn't want that either." Jude said, "She lets us do our own thing. Obviously Cassie can't really do that so I said I would always bring her over or whatever." Jude shrugged as Punk nodded, "And trust me, one day, Thea's gonna need you." She predicted.

"I think I'm the last person she feels she needs right now." Punk said.

"It's fine she's just a little bitch." Jude concluded casually as Punk laughed a little, "She's scared that you'll leave again."

"I wish I could prove that I'm not gonna… all I got is my word but that don't mean shit to her." Punk sighed, "And I can understand why."

"Just give her the space. Let her come to you, because she will, at one point." Jude nodded.

* * *

AJ woke up and was feeling a lot brighter than the past few days which had been tough. The emotions had taken over her, exhausted her. She was so busy worrying about her daughter's, that last night, she finally got to have some time on her own to think about how she felt about seeing her husband back. She was mostly terrified. Not of him. Never of him. But of what was ahead of them.

She showered and headed downstairs, walking into the kitchen to make herself coffee when she heard thumping at the door. She shook her head with confusion and walked down the hall, unlocking the door with the keys and opening it up, finding Thea sitting on the doorstep.

"Thea." AJ shook her head, looking at her daughter in last night's dress, make-up now smudged around her eyes, hair tangled and her shoes off, "How long have you been out here?"

"I… I don't know." Thea admitted.

"Where the hell is Jackson?" AJ asked.

"I don't know that either." Thea said as AJ sighed. She didn't know if her daughter was hungover or still drunk.

"Ok, come on." AJ shook her head, helping her up off the stairs and into the house, "Thea look at the state of you." AJ said angrily, watching as Thea stumbled into the kitchen, "How did you make it home like this?"

"I don't know." Thea mumbled, opening up the fridge as AJ looked at her, "I think I'm gonna be sick." She realised.

"In the sink." AJ snapped, watching as the twenty-one year old doubled over the sink, throwing up as AJ cringed, "Thea, we've talked about this." AJ said, "You don't know when you've had enough. I know you're stressed because your dad is back but-"

"Not everything is about him." Thea snapped, turning the sink on, rinsing her mouth.

"Well you can't behave like this." AJ said, "I don't care what the reason is. Jackson should have got you home safe. Where the hell did he go?"

"I don't know." Thea said, "I only go out once a week." She said innocently.

"And look at you." AJ said. This wasn't the first time they'd had this conversation.

"Sam is out every night." Thea grumbled.

"Because she's an alcoholic, Thea." AJ said, "You wanna end up like that? Because you will if you keep going this way." She said angrily as Thea looked at her, "You gotta learn when enough is enough. And if you can't, then you just don't do it at all." She said, "Because you're gonna end up hurting yourself or someone is going to end up hurting you."

"I can handle myself." Thea said.

"You can barely stand." AJ shook her head, "Just… just go to bed. Sleep it off. I'll bring you water."

"Ok." Thea nodded, doing the walk of shame as she stumbled out of the kitchen as AJ sighed to herself, shaking her head.

Raising the girls had been hard, especially doing it on her own. She didn't mean the cooking and cleaning, the school runs, the finance. She could keep that under control for sure. Dealing with situations such as this one was hard. Dealing with Thea was hard.

* * *

_Eight years ago…_

"_Mom can't come today." Thirteen year old Thea looked across at her father in the visiting room, "And Jude is sick. She's at Dean's."_

"_Why isn't mom coming?" Punk asked._

"_She… had the baby." Thea whispered as Punk raised his eyebrows, looking across at his eldest daughter._

"_What?" Punk shook his head, "Why… no one told me-"_

"_It was last night." Thea said, "Uncle Dean was with her."_

"_Shit…" Punk gasped, running his hands over his hair, feeling his heart beating, "Are they good? Are they healthy?"_

"_Yeah. It's a girl." Thea nodded, "Cassie." She said, "She's cute." She said as Punk raised his eyebrows, not knowing what to say. This wasn't how he planned to find out about the birth of his third child._

"_Your mom is good, right? She's healthy? And the baby?" Punk asked as Thea nodded._

"_They're fine." Thea nodded._

_It had been a few months since Punk was sentenced. It all happened very fast. One minute he was arrested, the next he was in his sentence hearing, getting sentenced to prison. He'd gotten visits from his family continuously. AJ came every day. They never normally had good things to talk about. He mostly just watched her cry for an hour, breaking his heart into a million pieces, but it still made him feel better to see his family._

"_Are you excited? You got another sister?" Punk smiled as Thea shrugged._

"_Jude thinks you're coming home." Thea said bluntly._

_It was extra difficult, because his eldest daughter wasn't a child, she was a teen. She knew what was going on, she knew he wasn't coming home any time soon, and he hated it._

"_I know she does." Punk nodded, "And look, I know… I know you're old enough to understand what's going on here." He said, "And trust me, I am sorry… I'm sorry for all of this-"_

"_Are you a bad person?" Thea looked at him as Punk looked across, staring into her eyes._

_He hated this. Having to see his daughter in this environment. Missing the birth of his third child. Not being around. It was hell. _

"_I'm… I'm not a bad person." Punk shook his head._

"_You did bad things." Thea said, "Drugs. You give drugs to people." She looked at him, "And then they become addicts." She said intellectually. _

"_I made bad mistakes." Punk nodded to her as Thea looked at him, "But that doesn't change anything between me and you. I love you, that'll never change." He made clear. He didn't know what else he could really say to her._

"_I love you too." Thea mumbled, looking down._

"_You'll give… you'll give Cassie a big hug from me, right?" Punk nodded to her as she looked up at him._

"_I already have." Thea said as Punk nodded, "Dad, I don't want you to be in here." Thea said truthfully, quickly rubbing her eyes as Punk noticed she was starting to cry. She'd been so brave, so strong, and seeing her cry broke his heart even more._

"_Come here." Punk sighed, standing up as Thea stood up, walking around the table and hugging him tightly._

"_I don't wanna be here either, baby." Punk sighed, hugging her tightly. He couldn't tell her it was gonna get better. Not when he knew he wasn't going to be around for eight plus years. It was the worst situation he'd ever been in. It was hell._

* * *

_Punk got back to his cell later on after a difficult visit with Thea, walking on into the cell where his cell mate was sitting at the table writing a letter with the small radio playing._

"_You're back." T smiled as Punk nodded, "Who was visiting you again?"_

"_My daughter." Punk said, walking over to the bottom bunk, sitting down._

"_You ok?" T asked._

"_My wife had a baby last night." Punk said, still in a daze by the news._

"_Yeah? Congrats." T smiled, "Boy or a girl?"_

"_Girl." Punk nodded slowly, "Cassie." He smiled to himself._

"_That's sweet." T smiled, "So you got three girls now?" He scoffed, "Sounds like a heart attack to me."_

"_Not like I'm gonna be there." Punk said. _

"_You can't think like that." T said, "You'll go insane."_

"_It's been a couple months and I already feel like I'm going insane." Punk admitted honestly._

"_That'll happen." T nodded. He was an older man. In for the same offence as Punk, but in a strange way, Punk found him to be a very wise man, "Don't worry, kid. I've got my eye on you." He assured him as Punk sighed to himself, lying down on the bottom bunk._

"_What are you doing?" Punk asked, turning his head._

"_Writing a letter to a friend." T said as Punk nodded, "He died a couple years ago."_

"_Huh?" Punk raised a brow._

"_It helps me." T nodded to him, "Like a journal. You should try it. Especially if you're in here for the long haul."_

"_Yeah, maybe." Punk sighed to himself. He was just thinking about his family. Thinking about his newborn baby. What she was like, who she looked like and how she was settling. Thinking about his two eldest daughters and everything he was going to miss. Thinking about his wife and the pain she had to have been going through._

"_This song takes me back." T smiled, turning the radio up a little as Punk picked up on the song, of course being Hey Jude._

"_Fucking hell." Punk sighed to himself, running his hands over his face as he wiped the tears held in his eyes._

"_What? Don't tell me you don't like The Beatles?" T scoffed as Punk shook his head._

"_No, I… I like this song." Punk assured him, wiping his face from the tears and turning around on the bunk bed._


	32. Left Out

**Left Out**

* * *

_Eight years ago…_

"_Hey." AJ whispered, wrapping her arms around Punk as he hugged her back tightly, kissing her head whilst AJ closed her eyes. She was so tired, she could have fallen asleep standing up, leaning into his chest._

"_Hey." Punk nodded. _

"_Sorry I wasn't up to visit for the past few days. I… I had the baby." AJ nodded, feeling him lean down and kiss her softly, cupping her cheeks as AJ kissed back._

"_Brooks!" A warden by the door called as Punk pulled back from the kiss._

"_I'm sorry I wasn't there." Punk said, looking her in the eyes, he wanted her to see just how sorry he was. No words would do it justice. But she knew._

"_I know." AJ squeezed his hand and nodded._

_She took a seat at the table as he sat down across from her. It wasn't until then where he noticed she looked exhausted. Not only exhausted, but ill. She was very pale and ghostly looking, like she hadn't slept in days._

"_How are you feeling?" Punk asked._

"_I'm uh… I'm tired." AJ said, "I also keep feeling a little light-headed but I think it's… it's just tough with the baby and Jude is sick right now. Thea isn't talking to me." AJ said, "It's not the best." She admitted truthfully as he watched her._

_He could see the way her eyes were rolling that she was dizzy and light-headed._

"_If you're not feeling good you should go to the hospital." Punk said._

"_It's fine… it's ok." AJ assured him, "I did lose a lot of blood and my sugar levels were really low when I was having Cassie so… I just gotta get energy from somewhere." She said tiredly as Punk nodded._

"_How is she?" Punk smiled._

"_She's pretty perfect." AJ smiled, "Here, I brought you some pictures." She nodded, taking them out of her pocket and sliding them over to him as he looked on at the pictures. _

_She watched as he looked at the few pictures, a smile on his face as he flicked to and from, "She's got a lot of hair." Punk chuckled to himself as AJ nodded._

"_Yeah, she does." AJ smiled, "She's not really sleeping but… but we'll get there." She nodded tiredly as Punk nodded, looking up at her._

"_Hey, you know you can ask Dean or Renee for help with the girls, they'll be there for you." Punk nodded. Looking at her, how exhausted she was, it hurt him. _

"_I know. Dean was in the delivery room with me." AJ nodded, "I didn't wanna do it alone." She shook her head as Punk nodded, "Him and Renee have been helping a lot."_

"_Good." Punk nodded._

"_Your mom has been around too. Bless her heart, she tries." AJ nodded, rubbing her forehead as Punk nodded._

"_Yeah, just… take any help you can get." Punk nodded to her, "Can I… keep these?" Punk asked, holding the pictures._

"_Yeah, they're for you." AJ nodded, "I hope you don't mind me naming her, I sort of… forgot to talk to you about names and then she came early so-"_

"_I love the name." Punk smiled as she nodded, "How are the girls with her?"_

"_Well, they've been good. Jude's been sick so she's not really got to see her a lot but they've been helping me. Thea's pretty good actually. Changes her diaper. She actually put her down last night. I had fallen asleep." AJ shook her head as Punk nodded._

"_Have you heard anything from your parents?" Punk asked._

"_No. No, they're gone back to Puerto Rico. They won't be back ever again. Not after I almost killed both of them." She shook her head. At times she still couldn't believe this was happening. It had been a couple of months that Punk had been in prison for, and it still wasn't sinking in that it was real. She knew at one point it was going to hit her, and it was going to hurt her terribly._

"_I sit awake at night and I think about how we could get them sent down but… it's not gonna change my situation. I'm in here no matter what." Punk said._

"_I don't have the energy to go take down anyone." AJ told him honestly, "I got three kids." She said as Punk looked at her._

"_We." Punk said, not enjoying her referring the girls just as hers._

"_Well technically speaking… I." AJ said a little coldly, "I'm the one with them all the time. You're here." She said, "Jude cries every night because she wants you to read her story before bed. She doesn't understand. Thea won't talk to me about any of it. And you've not even held her baby girl yet." She whispered as Punk nodded._

"_I'm sorry." Punk shook his head. It was all he could think of saying._

"_It's… it's not your fault." AJ said._

"_Is that kid still hanging around Thea?" Punk asked her._

"_Jackson?" AJ questioned as Punk nodded, "I-I don't know. He's not really on my list of problems or worries." She said truthfully._

"_Promise me something." Punk said as AJ looked at him._

"_What?" AJ asked._

"_When… if Thea starts to learn about things, about me, us… what was going on. The truth." He said, "Don't tell her Jackson dropped me in it."_

"_Why not?" AJ shook her head._

"_Because she'll blame herself. I know her. She acts all tough and brave. She is brave. But… I don't want that eating away at her." Punk said, "She was the one who told Jackson about our old apartment. She didn't know it was me who was keeping the drugs there. Just don't let her find out that her telling that information to Jackson was what… got me in here."_

"_I need to tell her the truth at some point." AJ said._

"_And you can. Well, don't paint me out to be evil or anything." He attempted to joke as she forced a smile, "Just leave out Jackson from it. He's a kid too and… it is what it is."_

"_Ok." AJ nodded to him, "Ok." She nodded tiredly as Punk looked at her._

"_The girls at school?" Punk asked._

"_Yeah. Jude went back today. Thea's at school. Cassie is with Renee." AJ said._

"_You should be getting a couple hours sleep." Punk nodded to her._

"_I wanted to come see you." AJ nodded._

"_I know but… you just had a baby a couple days ago." He said, "I won't hold it against you if you skip visiting for a few days." He nodded, "You should go home and take a nap before the girls get home."_

"_Yeah." AJ said tiredly, "Yeah, I should." She realised, "I feel like I just wandered here."_

"_You're really pale." Punk nodded._

"_I don't feel good." She told him truthfully, struggling to keep herself up as Punk watched her begin to fall off the chair._

"_April." Punk panicked, quickly getting up, "Hey can I get a doctor?!" Punk called out worriedly, holding AJ up against him as he crouched on the floor._

* * *

"Hey, April." Jackson walked into the living room where AJ was sitting with Cassie, watching a Disney film per Cassie's request.

"Hey." AJ looked up.

"Hi." Cassie smiled cheekily as Jackson waved at her.

"Is Thea here? She's not answering her phone." Jackson said.

"She's still sleeping." AJ nodded, "You can go wake her, but that's your funeral." AJ waved her hand as Jackson chuckled, walking out of the living room as AJ paused, "Wait, Jackson." AJ got up, walking out of the living room.

"Yeah?" Jackson turned around before heading upstairs.

"Thea was in quite a mess this morning. I don't even know how she made it home last night. She was on the doorstep at 8am." AJ said, "Were you with her last night?"

"Yeah, I was there." Jackson nodded, "She got drunk super quick and then she was fighting with me. So I split. I thought she would have just went home after that." Jackson shrugged as AJ looked at him.

"Do me a favour, yeah? You see her in that state and you're out with her, bring her home. Don't… don't leave her." AJ advised as Jackson looked at her.

"Oh, she… she was with friends-"

"I don't care." AJ looked at him with a hint of anger as Jackson gulped a little.

"I think she was just kinda freaked out about her dad being back. She threw her drinks back really quickly and deliberately I think." Jackson nodded.

"Then you should be there for her to help her home. Whether she's fighting with you or not. Please don't leave her in that state again." AJ said. It was ridiculous that she even had to say this to him. As Thea's boyfriend, she expected a little more from him. Her daughter deserved more.

"Yeah… sure." Jackson nodded hesitantly, "Sorry, I just… I thought she'd go home after that and she'd be fine."

"No, she stayed out all night. God knows where she went." AJ rolled her eyes as Jackson looked at her, "I'm just glad she's safe." She said, placing her hand on her chest as Jude walked into the house, coming home from her overnight stay with her father.

"I'll go check on her." Jackson nodded, escaping upstairs as AJ turned her attention to Jude.

"Hi, baby." AJ smiled, "How was your night?" She asked.

"It was so great." Jude smiled happily, "Dad helped me finish my project. Look." She held it out proudly.

"Wow, those colours look so good." AJ smiled. Just because she wasn't seeing eye to eye with Punk, didn't mean she was going to take anything away from Jude's happiness. If anything, she was overjoyed to see her daughter so happy.

"Yeah, I gotta go sit it in the kitchen." Jude smiled, throwing her backpack off and walking on through to the kitchen as AJ smiled, suddenly listening as she heard a door slam upstairs, looking up and narrowing her brows.

"Thea?" AJ called up.

"It's fine!" Thea called back down immediately as AJ looked up the stairs.

"Mom." Jude called from the kitchen as AJ turned her attention to her, walking on down the hall and into the kitchen, "Is this leftovers?" She asked, grabbing a plate.

"Yeah, help yourself." AJ said, "So you had a good time?" She asked.

"I did." Jude smiled, "I want to bring Cassie the next time."

"Well we can sort something out." AJ smiled, "How…" She paused, "How is your father?" She nodded as Jude turned to her.

"Well if I was lying I'd tell you he's good." Jude said as AJ nodded slowly, "What do you expect? He's been like… trapped for eight years." She shook her head.

"Just because we don't get along doesn't mean I don't care about him, because I do." AJ made clear, "It's just… it's not the same anymore and things have changed. Things have moved on and he's not been here. You understand that, right?" She asked as Jude looked at her and sighed.

"Yes. I understand that." Jude said as AJ nodded, "What did you get up to? Since you had the house to yourself?"

"I cleaned." AJ laughed a little.

"Boo, you bore." Jude frowned.

"I did eat a giant cupcake and watch a UFO documentary." She added, "It was weird being here on my own. I don't think I liked it." She folded her arms as Jude laughed.

"So you do love us?" Jude asked as AJ smiled.

"I think so." AJ nodded. She always admired the energy Jude radiated. It was always positive. Of course she had down moments too but she always managed to look on the bright side of things.

"What did Thea get up to?" Jude asked, filling her plate up with leftovers.

"She was… out." AJ nodded as Jude turned to her suspiciously, "She's been sleeping all day."

"You don't suppose that-"

"No." AJ answered before she could finish, "No, she's fine." AJ made clear, "She had too much to drink-"

"She always has too much to drink." Jude pointed out.

"She'll be fine. I told her if she can't handle her drink then she just shouldn't go out." AJ shrugged as Jude nodded.

"Is Jackson in?" Jude asked.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "Cass is watching Dumbo in the living room if you wanna watch." AJ smiled.

"Sure." Jude nodded, walking on out of the kitchen with her dinner, sitting down beside Cassie and watching the film whilst AJ stayed in the kitchen, looking over at Jude's science project and smiling to herself.


	33. Worry

**Worry**

* * *

"_Daddy, when you coming home?" Jude asked, resting her elbows on the table, swinging her legs back and forth whilst visiting her father with her older sister. She was finding it difficult to understand why her father, all of a sudden, had disappeared. And why they could only see him for a short amount of time in a strange visiting room with other people. She really wasn't a fan of it._

"_I… I don't know, sweetheart." Punk nodded. He couldn't bear to give her the real answer. Not yet._

"_Thirteen years." Thea told her bluntly, "Maybe half if he behaves." She said as Jude looked up at her._

"_Thea." Punk sighed._

"_How long is that?" Jude asked._

"_Almost twice your age." Thea said, "A long time." She translated as Jude huffed._

"_Daddy, I miss you." Jude said sadly, "I want you to be in our house again." She nodded._

"_I do too, baby." Punk sighed, "I do too." He nodded._

_He thought the first time he was in prison, was extremely hard, but this… this was unexplainable. His children, his wife, his entire family were so important to him, and this felt like the ultimate punishment._

"_Cassie keeps me awake, daddy." Jude sighed, "And I love to sleep." She reminded him._

"_I know you do." Punk chuckled. He tried to put on a brave face for the girls, "How are you guys doing with the baby?"_

"_We're doing fine." Thea nodded, "She really doesn't sleep, though." Thea agreed, "Mom is exhausted."_

"_Is she out of hospital?" Punk asked._

_After AJ practically fainting on him, she was taken back into hospital. Her blood levels weren't right and she was kept in for a few days. Dean and Renee were good enough to have the girls for the few nights, but he was still worried about AJ._

"_Yeah, she got out a couple days ago." Thea nodded, "Uncle Dean has been staying at our house to let her sleep. Cassie is always awake." She said as Punk nodded._

"_Daddy, you haven't even saw Cassie yet!" Jude yelled dramatically as some other people in the room turned around._

"_Shh." Punk chuckled a little as Jude rolled her eyes, "I know… I know I haven't-"_

"_Mom doesn't wanna bring her here." Thea said truthfully as Punk nodded._

"_Yeah, I know. We… We talked about it." Punk nodded._

"_Are you two gonna break up?" Thea questioned._

_As a teen, with so much going on, she wanted answers. She didn't want lies or to be tiptoed around the way she could see her mother and father were doing with Jude, which she understood why. But she wanted the facts, the answers, so she could be prepared._

"_I… I don't know what's gonna happen." Punk said truthfully, "This… all of this doesn't change how much I love your mom. I'm sure she feels the same." He nodded._

"_Yeah. She misses you." Thea nodded. She knew that much._

"_I miss her." Punk sighed to himself._

"_Daddy, you look sad." Jude noticed, looking at her father._

"_I just miss you guys, that's all." Punk cleared his throat and forced a smile. He dared let anyone criticise him for trying to make light of this situation for his girls. He didn't want them to suffer. He knew he'd already done enough, but if he could just push a smile out and ease their minds, he'd do it. He could see that Thea was seeing straight through him, though._

"_I counted it up and I'll be twenty seven when you get out." Thea looked at him._

"_I'm not gonna do the full time." Punk assured her. That was a scary thought, "Hey, don't… don't rattle your brain with numbers and… it won't make it better." He nodded to her._

"_I'll be at least twenty." Thea said._

"_I'm bored." Jude huffed childishly, "Why can't we go somewhere?" She asked her father. She really didn't know what was going on. Punk knew that at a later date, AJ would explain to her what was happening. Whereas Thea already knew exactly what was going on._

"_We can't go anywhere." Thea told her sister as Jude folded her arms._

"_Mom told me that you were helping with Cassie. Doing the diapers and putting her to sleep." He smiled to Thea, "That'll really help your mom."_

"_That's why I did it." Thea nodded._

_She was at an age where she was stuck between wanting to cry and kick and scream about what was going on, and also wanting to put her foot down and be mad at someone for everything that had happened. Being in between that fine line was really confusing her. _

"_Hey, I want you both to know that… I'm still here." He nodded, "I'm always gonna be here, obviously." He rolled his eyes, "But, this isn't goodbye. Ever." He said, making a point to look at Thea who nodded, meanwhile Jude wasn't even paying attention, too young to take in any of this._

* * *

"Hi, sweetie." Sam smiled, letting AJ into the house, "He's in the kitchen."

"Thanks." AJ smiled to Sam, making her way through to the kitchen where Punk was, "Hi." AJ announced as Punk turned around. It was very strange getting used to him being out, seeing him so close, in her surroundings.

"Hi." Punk nodded.

"I thought dropping by was easier than calling." AJ said, "I was on my way home from work anyway." She said as Punk nodded, "Jude told me that she said she'd bring Cassie with her next time she was coming to see you."

"Yeah. Yeah, she did but I told her to run it by you first." Punk made clear as AJ nodded.

"I'm… I'm fine with that." AJ understood, "Don't be alarmed if Cassie isn't really bothered with you. That sounds horrible, I know but… it's just the way she is." AJ nodded as Punk smiled.

"So she's like Jude?" Punk questioned.

"Yeah, pretty much." AJ nodded, "Jude also told me you got a job."

"I did." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"That's good." AJ smiled, "I'm glad you're finding your feet. I can't imagine being gone for that long. How it must feel to be back."

"The job thing doesn't really bother me." Punk assured her, "My eldest daughter hating me, kinda a hard thing to deal with." He said.

"She might come round, you never know." AJ said, "I wouldn't say she hated you. I think she's just scared."

"She blames me." Punk nodded, "Which seems unfair considering I was only ever trying to protect you. Marina was gonna put you away for murder. You told the girls that, right? You covered it all?"

"Phil, I told them everything." AJ assured him, "Every detail. And trust me, I wasn't their favourite person after either." She nodded as Punk ran his hand through his hair.

"How can Jude understand and Thea can't?" Punk asked her.

"They're two different people, that's how." AJ said simply, "They'll see things differently, take things in differently." She said, "Jude never really had to go through the pain of losing you. Thea did. She was old enough at the time to see that you'd done a bad thing and you were going to be out of our lives for a long time. That can weigh on a kid's mind."

"You say that and it's like you want me to feel guilty, April." Punk shook his head.

"I don't." AJ said, "I'm not here to make you feel anything. I've done my fair share of crying over you. I can't… I can't do it anymore." She told him honestly, "We all know you weren't to blame, not fully. But we welcomed this into our life when we were kids and… we never really got rid of it, did we?" She asked.

"You mean I welcomed it into our life." Punk said, "Is that what it comes back to?"

"Phil, I don't wanna fight with you." AJ said, "I want the the best for my girls-"

"Our girls." Punk corrected immediately as she looked at him.

"I want the best for them. Jude is so happy to see you, and have you back, and I love that." AJ nodded sincerely as Punk nodded, "And I'd love to see Cassie get to know you and spend time with you." She said. It made Punk feel better hearing her say that.

"And Thea?" Punk asked.

"She's a little more complicated." AJ nodded.

"Meaning?" Punk questioned.

"Meaning she has more to say. Meaning she went through more." AJ said, "Just give her time. I know that deep down she's been waiting for this day, since the day you got arrested." AJ said as Punk sighed.

"And what about me and you?" Punk asked as AJ looked across at him.

"I love you." AJ nodded, "And I care about you. And I miss you so much." AJ nodded, tears in her eyes, "But we're not…"

"Yeah." Punk nodded to himself. He already knew that was the answer. It just didn't feel real that this was over. That this love, the only love he'd ever know, was ruined. That the girl he'd known since he was sixteen, was too scared to let herself go there with him again, in fear of things falling apart.

"So…" AJ quickly wiped her tears, "You're good with Jude and Cass coming over tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Yeah, of course." Punk nodded.

"Ok." AJ said.

"April." Punk said before she turned around and left, "I really am sorry. If it does come down to what happened when I was younger. Welcoming that world into my life, enjoying it…" He shook his head, "I'm sorry. You… You always deserved better."

"No." AJ shook her head, "Don't say that." She said, "I think you've lost so much time, it'd be foolish to keep looking back. Just… appreciate today. And tomorrow. And having the rest of your life back again." She said as he nodded, watching as she took off and let out a deep sigh.

* * *

"What the hell is going on in here?" AJ shook her head, walking into the living room after getting home, finding Jude and Cassie in the living room, hearing yelling coming from upstairs.

"Thea and Jackson are breaking up for the umpteenth time." Jude nodded to her, "Why are you home so late?" She questioned.

"I was… seeing your dad." AJ took her coat off, listening to the upstairs banging, "I swear to God." She shook her head frantically, exiting the living room and running upstairs, "Hey!" She yelled very loudly, bursting into Thea's bedroom.

"Mom, it's fine just get out." Thea nodded.

"No… no, it's not fine." AJ shook her head, "Your sisters are downstairs listening to this… nonsense." She spat, looking over at Jackson who was standing whilst Thea was sat on her bed, having obviously been crying, "If you can't have a reasonable discussion, then Jackson you should just leave." AJ nodded.

"I'm already going." Jackson shook his head, storming out of the bedroom and racing downstairs to leave the house as AJ turned to Thea who was crying again.

"Babe, is this really worth it?" AJ sighed, "He makes you cry way too much." AJ said with concern, walking over to her and giving her a hug.

"I'm the problem." Thea cried as AJ sat down beside him.

"No… no you're not." AJ shook her head, "You got a lot going on right now and as your boyfriend, he should be there for you, not making things worse."

"You never liked him anyway." Thea shook her head.

"I just think he upsets you too much." AJ said, "And I don't want that for you." She said, brushing Thea's hair out of her face, "Jude and Cass are going to your dad's tomorrow so we can do something." She nodded as Thea sighed, "Rent a movie or go shopping-"

"I have so much college work to do." Thea sighed, massaging her forehead and groaning.

"Then you can chill in the house and do it, we can rent a movie and watch it after." AJ nodded, rubbing her arm softly, "Jackson shouldn't be making you feel like this." She sighed, hating to see her daughter upset.

She tried to stay out of her daughter's relationship, because she didn't want to interfere. Of course she did when she had to, but especially since Jackson was still someone she struggled accepting into our life, she actually tried to keep her distance from it all. She knew her daughter loved him, and she didn't want to interfere in that.

"It's fine. We'll be fine." Thea nodded.

"It's not fine." AJ shook her head, "You don't let him treat you badly."

"He doesn't." Thea said, "I've been with him since I was sixteen."

"I've been down that road." AJ assured her as Thea scoffed.

"It was easier when he was still in prison." Thea sighed.

"Don't say that." AJ shook her head.

"It was." Thea grumbled as AJ sighed.

"You can fool your sisters, and whoever else but… I know you still love your dad." AJ nodded.

"I need to take a shower." Thea groaned, getting off her bed and leaving her room as AJ sighed to herself.

She got up from the bed, about to leave the room when she paused. She couldn't help it. She worried and cared too much.

She immediately wandered over to Thea's dresser, opening up all the drawers and looking around them.

"I need my hair-" Thea paused as she walked back into the room, watching her mother mid searching her dresser, "What the hell are you doing?"

"N-Nothing. I'm… I was just-"

"You're never gonna trust me, are you?" Thea asked, deflated.

"Thea." AJ sighed.

"Search all you want." Thea shook her head, grabbing her hair scrunchie and walking back out of the room as AJ sighed to herself.


	34. Too Difficult

**Too Difficult**

* * *

"_Hey." Punk said, embracing his wife as she hugged him back. The highlights of his weeks were getting that hug from his wife or his daughter's. It kept him going for sure._

"_Hey." AJ hugged him tightly. She wouldn't tell him, but she believe she got more pain from visiting him than happiness. Because it was just a reminder that this was their life now, and it was going to be their life for a very long time._

"_How are you?" He asked her, sitting down at the table._

"_I'm ok." AJ nodded._

_It had been a few weeks since she'd had Cassie. It had been hard. Having a new baby was always difficult anyway, but having a new baby whilst having a teenager and a small kid to look after too, on her own, that was a battle. _

"_You feeling better?" Punk asked her._

"_Better than I was." AJ nodded, "Cassie's been sleeping better so I'm getting a little more sleep." She said._

"_Good." Punk nodded, "How is she?"_

"_She's great." AJ smiled, "She's settled down really good." AJ nodded._

"_Are the girls ok with her? Every time I talk to them they just tell me that she always cries." Punk laughed a little, "Jude isn't happy about getting her sleep interrupted."_

"_No, she really isn't." AJ smiled, "They're good with her, though. Thea's really great with her. She helps me out a lot." She nodded._

"_How has she been?" Punk asked, "It's kinda hard to reach her right now."_

"_Yeah, it's the same for me." AJ said, "She knows what's going on here. She's watched you get ripped away from her and she knows you're not getting out for a long time. She also knows that this is where… bad people go." She nodded, "She keeps asking me if you're a bad person."_

"_And what do you say?" Punk wondered._

"_No, because you're not." AJ said, "You just made bad mistakes."_

"_If we didn't move drugs for Marina, she was gonna put you in here, not me." Punk said, "Your parents were the one who put us in this position, I was good, I was clean for so long-"_

"_I know." AJ nodded, "Maybe if we… if you never got so involved the first time, created such a reputation for yourself, we wouldn't have been put in this situation-"_

"_Are you blaming me?" Punk looked at her._

"_You had to have known it was gonna bite you in the ass." AJ shook her head, "I told you when we were kids, when you got involved with this shit, that you never get out of it, it's always there." She said._

"_Are you… are you seriously blaming me right now?" Punk looked at her, "It was your fucking parents who brought us back into this. Us. Not just me. You were involved too." He reminded her, "It's not like I was sneaking off behind your back doing this. You were in this with me."_

"_And that's my mistake." AJ nodded to him, "Both our mistakes. We should have done something to prevent this. We could have just gone to the cops about Marina-"_

"_You think cops will listen to people like us?" Punk asked her, "There was no way out, April." He said as she nodded slowly._

_She was going over it and over it in her head, thinking about what lead them here, who she was mad at, what they could have done differently… but the truth was, it didn't change anything. _

"_Maybe there wasn't." AJ nodded, looking across at him and sighing, sliding her hands over and taking his in hers. Things felt so hopeless._

* * *

"What took you so long?" Jude folded her arms, waiting outside Cassie's school. Of course she was the last to come out.

"Jude I lost my backpack." Cassie explained, sitting her bag down on the ground and crouching down.

"How do you lose your backpack?" Jude scoffed.

In order for AJ to do extra over time at work, Jude always brought Cassie home. They either got the bus or they walked if it was a nice day. Thea sometimes picked them up too depending on her college classes.

"I don't know, I couldn't find it." Cassie said, "I'm just checking everything is in it." She explained, looking through her backpack as Jude rolled her eyes.

Today was a little different, because today they were going to see their dad.

"You got everything?" Jude asked.

"Yes." Cassie nodded, standing back up as Jude helped her put her backpack back on, "I'm thirsty." She sighed.

"I have some water in my bag." Jude said, taking out her water and giving it to Cassie who smiled, "Are you excited?" She asked.

"What for?" Cassie asked.

"To see our dad." Jude said.

"Oh." Cassie remembered they were seeing him today, "Yeah, but maybe I won't like him." Cassie said.

"You will." Jude scoffed, "He's great. He's funny, he'll make you laugh a lot." Jude nodded.

"Well that's good." Cassie said, "Are we getting food? I'm hungry." She said as Jude nodded.

"Yeah, we'll have dinner with dad." Jude nodded.

"But not mom?" Cassie asked.

"No." Jude said.

"Who will mom have dinner with?" Cassie asked with concern.

"I don't know, Thea probably." Jude shrugged, walking along the side walk with her sister, "What'd you do at school today?"

"Nothing exciting." Cassie said, unbothered, "How far do we have to walk?"

"Not that far." Jude said.

"I'm tired already." Cassie huffed.

"You play soccer for ninety minutes every week." Jude scoffed.

"Exactly. This is my day off." Cassie said, "And you're making me walk." She huffed.

"It's not that far." Jude laughed, squeezing Cassie's neck playfully.

* * *

They eventually made it to Sam's house, walking on in and closing the door behind him.

"Hi my babies." Sam smiled, coming downstairs just as the girls walked in.

"Hi Sam." Cassie said.

"Hey." Jude nodded.

"He's in the kitchen." Sam said, giving them both a tight squeeze, "I'm gonna head out for a few hours."

"Bye, Sam." Cassie said, unbothered as she threw her backpack over and ran towards the kitchen as Jude watched.

"See you later." Jude nodded to Sam, watching her leave the house before heading for the kitchen where Cassie had already made her way too.

"Is that him?" Cassie whispered, looking over where Punk was leaning over the stove, cooking something obviously.

"Yeah." Jude nodded, "Hey." She said loudly as Punk turned around, pausing when he saw Jude and Cassie standing.

He'd only really saw pictures of Cassie as a baby, and he'd never even had a conversation with her, nor had her so close to him. It was a lot to take in. Missing the first few months of Thea's life was difficult, but missing eight years with Cassie was too hard to explain.

"Hey." Punk managed to find his words.

"Hi." Cassie smiled, walking over to him as Punk gulped. She was a lot like AJ, short with dark hair and eyes, but with a little cocky edge to her, "I'm Cassie." She explained, looking up at him, taking his hand and shaking it as Punk raised his eyebrows whilst Jude stood by the door and chuckled.

"H-Hey." Punk chuckled, "It's… it's really nice to meet you too." Punk nodded.

"I thought you were dead." Cassie told him truthfully.

"No, God no… I'm here." Punk shook his head.

"That's my sister Jude." Cassie pointed over to Jude as Punk smiled, "And I have a big big sister, Thea." Cassie said.

"I… I've heard of them before." Punk teased, "Someone told me that you're favourite dinner is tacos."

"Yes!" Cassie exclaimed, "Yes, it is." She said excitedly, "Is that what you're making?" She asked curiously, sniffing things out as she looked around.

"Yeah, that's what I'm making. Well… I'm trying to make it." He laughed.

Jude had helped him out with telling him Cassie's favourite dinner.

"I love tacos." Cassie nodded as Jude smiled, taking her coat off and sitting it over.

"So how was school?" He asked them both, watching Cassie sit up at the kitchen table. He was in awe of her. Meeting her felt surreal. She was like a ball of energy, with the most gorgeous smile. He almost didn't know what to say or do.

"School was fine." Cassie told him. She didn't need time to get used to him. She wasn't shy or timid. It helped that Jude was with her too.

"I gave in my science project today." Jude smiled.

"You did?" Punk asked, "How'd it go?"

"I won't know my mark until a couple weeks." Jude said.

"I thought it was really good." Cassie added, "Did you see it?" She asked Punk.

"He helped me paint some of it." Jude said as Cassie raised her eyebrows.

"Hey, you never let me help." Cassie huffed.

"Because you're clumsy." Jude shrugged as Punk smiled, watching them discuss with each other. It was unreal to be standing here with his two daughters. A range of emotions he just couldn't describe came flooding through. He couldn't emphasise how much he wanted to be here for them. It was all he could think about. He missed so much time that now every second counted.

* * *

"Where are Jude and Cassie?" Thea asked, getting home that night after college where her mother was sitting in the kitchen.

"They're at Sam's seeing your dad." AJ said as Thea nodded slowly, "How was college?"

"It was fine." Thea nodded, opening up the fridge and grabbing a drink out, "Has Jackson came by?"

"No." AJ shook her head, "Were you expecting him?"

"Yeah." Thea nodded, "I thought he'd be over to apologise."

"Babe, sometimes things just aren't mean to be. If you're fighting this much then… is it even worth it?" AJ asked.

"No offence but… I really don't want relationship advice from you." Thea said as AJ looked at her.

"Believe it or not, Thea, there was a time where me and your dad were good." AJ said, "And I do still care about him."

"Please… you resent him for everything." Thea said.

"That's not true." AJ shook her head.

"He's the reason you got in the mess you did. He cheated on you whilst you were pregnant. If anything, you running back to him after that, makes you look desperate."

"Of course it does." AJ nodded, unbothered by her daughter's words.

"What? Tell me I'm lying." Thea said.

"You have no idea what it was like back then so don't… don't give me your opinion on it." AJ shook her head, "You're making this too hard, Thea. You're making it harder than what it needs to be. He's your father. He's made a lot of mistakes but he never stopped loving us. Even I know that."

"Really? Because to me it looks like you've hated him for the past eight years." Thea said.

"I was mad at him, yeah, because I was scared of being on my own. Raising three kids on my own. And yeah, maybe I did blame him for the things we ended up involved in but… I never had to question his love for me, or for you girls." AJ said.

"He's just gonna end up involved with shit again and he'll be back in prison." Thea nodded.

"This is why you're finding this hard." AJ said, "You're just scared that what happened when you were thirteen, losing him, is gonna happen all over again." She nodded, "I'm your mother, I know what's going on in your head."

"No, you don't." Thea laughed a little, "The truth is, he was a drug dealer and he got caught. Then he started dealing again… and he got caught." Thea nodded, "I mean what… what would have happened if he never did get caught? Would we be growing up with our dad bringing drugs into the house? And I bet you'd be fine with that."

"We've been over all of this so many times." AJ rubbed her forehead.

She knew Thea was a challenging person at the best of times. She always had something to say, she never held back and sometimes that was her downfall. She just refused to see her father in any sort of light. It was all dark.

"I'm going out. I have a free class tomorrow." Thea nodded.

"I don't think you should go out." AJ shook her head, "Not after a few nights ago."

"I'm fine." Thea assured her.

"Don't make me buy those test kits again." AJ looked at her, "Because I will."

"Yeah, well I'd pass anyway." Thea shook her head.

"I thought we were gonna rent a movie? You had tons of college work?" AJ looked at her. Thea's downfall was also avoiding all her problems and using other things to help her through it.

"I don't feel like watching a movie and I done all my work today." Thea said, "I'm going out." She concluded, walking out of the kitchen as AJ ran her hands over her face.


	35. Round In Circles

**Round In Circles**

* * *

"I think he makes better tacos than mom." Cassie whispered to Jude, sitting at the kitchen table in Sam's.

"Tell him." Jude smiled and nodded.

"You make better tacos than my mom." Cassie said, getting Punk's attention as he was fetching them some ice-cream, "But don't tell her I said that." Cassie said quickly as Punk chuckled.

"Yeah, she'd get real mad about that." Punk laughed a little.

It was great getting to have the company of his daughter's, getting to know Cassie and talk to her. It still wasn't sinking in. Of course not getting to hold her as a baby and be there for her at all was at the back of his mind, but it only made him want to be the best he could be, starting from now.

He'd had dinner with them and helped them with any homework. Little things he'd dream about doing in prison when he felt at his lowest. It was important that he took things step by step, otherwise he knew it would become overwhelming.

"We're having ice-cream too?" Cassie smiled as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, why not?" Punk smiled.

"My coach says I shouldn't have a lot of ice-cream." Cassie said, nevertheless digging in right away.

"It doesn't hurt once every now and then." Punk said, "I heard your pretty good at soccer."

"Who told you that?" Cassie smiled curiously.

"Word gets around." Punk nodded as she smirked.

"I'm ok at it." Cassie said modestly as Punk smiled watching her. She was adorable. She had the sweetest nature, and surprisingly, he was able to talk to her all night without it being awkward or strange.

"Do you like all sports?" Punk asked her.

"Not all sports because there's a lot." Cassie told him truthfully as Punk nodded, "I like watching baseball but I don't like playing it." She made clear as Punk nodded, taking mental notes, "And I like going to the hockey games but I've never played it before."

"I like going to the hockey games." Punk nodded in agreement. He had fond memories of hockey, mostly because he associated it with his children, when he'd always take them. It was their thing.

"Mom takes me and Jude but Thea doesn't go but she doesn't like it." Cassie told him as Punk nodded slowly.

"Thea… used to love hockey and baseball." Punk shook his head with confusion as Jude looked at him.

"You're smart, you can figure that one out." Jude nodded to him as Punk sighed, "Mom hates going but we make her take us anyway, don't we?" She nodded to Cassie.

"Yes and she buys me a hot dog." Cassie said, "My coach also says I shouldn't eat a lot of hot dogs but I can't help it." She admitted as Punk chuckled.

"United hot dogs just hit differently." Jude agreed.

"They are good." Punk nodded.

"We should go." Jude said, "I know it's off season right now but when there's a next hawks game, we could go." She suggested.

"Hey, that sounds like fun." Punk smiled to them as they nodded, "What's the chances of Thea coming with us?"

"No chance." Cassie answered before Jude could. Even she knew her oldest sisters hatred for sports, "Thea says she only likes watching me play soccer." She told him as Punk nodded.

"Well hey, I gotta see you play one day, see what all this hype is about." Punk nodded.

"Well you have to let me know because you need a ticket." Cassie let him know, finishing her ice-cream off rather quickly, "Um… is there any more?" She wondered as Punk smiled.

"Sure." Punk laughed, walking back over to the freezer and getting the ice-cream out for her.

He knew with Cassie and Jude, he could make up the best he could for times he'd lost. Whereas Thea was a little more difficult. He couldn't win her over with ice-cream, or help with science projects, take her out for the day. She'd passed that point in her life, and he unfortunately wasn't there for her. That was eating away at his mind for sure.

"Do you have chocolate sauce?" Cassie wondered, "Or some sprinkles?"

"I don't think so." Punk admitted, "I don't take Sam as the type to have sprinkles." He chuckled as Jude laughed.

* * *

Later that night, AJ had come to pick the girls up from Sam's house. Cassie had a great time with Punk. She didn't need clarification that this was her father. Being told once was enough, and she was laid back enough to let things play out. Turned out, she really liked him, and he really made her laugh.

"Can you help me do my laces?" Cassie asked Punk, getting ready to leave the house whilst AJ waited out in the car.

"Sure." Punk smiled, watching her run over to the stairs and take a seat on the bottom one, handing him her converse.

"Mom taught me but I forgot." Cassie told him as he nodded.

"That's because mom ties them like a crazy person." Punk said, putting her converse on, "You just tie it, make a loop and then… pull it through." He showed her as Cassie watched.

"Oh." Cassie raised her eyebrows, "I'll try the other one. Let me try it." She said eagerly, stepping into her other converse and grabbing the laces, "Tie it…" She mumbled, "Loop." She said as Punk watched her successfully swoop it through, "Oh, look!" Cassie said excitedly, holding her legs out and admiring her tied converse.

"Hey, look at that." Punk smiled.

"Ok, Cass mom is waiting." Jude smiled.

"I'll see you girls soon, ok?" He nodded to them both, wrapping his arm around Jude and giving her a kiss on the head as Jude rubbed his back sweetly.

"You did good." Jude said quietly as Punk smiled.

"Would you like a hug?" Cassie asked him, standing up from the stairs as Punk looked over at her. He couldn't think of something he wanted more right now than a hug from Cassie.

"I'd love one." Punk nodded, crouching down a little as she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

Punk closed his eyes, really cherishing the hug as it meant so much to him.

He eventually let go, not wanting to of course, but realising AJ was waiting outside for them in the car.

"We'll see you soon." Jude nodded to him, walking out of the door as Cassie nodded in agreement, copying her sister as she jumped down the steps.

Punk smiled as he watched them get into the car. Things were tough right now, but sweet moments like these gave him strength to keep going.

Jude and Cassie got into the car where AJ was prepared for anything. She couldn't stop thinking about Cassie all day, if things went well as she hoped or if somehow it didn't go so well.

"I like him!" Cassie exclaimed almost immediately, putting her seat belt on as Jude chuckled.

"Yeah?" AJ laughed a little, driving off to take them home.

"Yes." Cassie said, "He made tacos and he gave us ice-cream too. And he taught me how to tie my laces because you're way is too difficult." She explained to her mother whilst Jude smiled. She knew Cassie would love Punk.

"Sounds like you had fun, baby." AJ smiled happily. Seeing her daughter's happy, was her happiness.

"I did. And he wants to watch me play soccer too." Cassie told her as AJ nodded, keeping up with everything Cassie had to tell her.

* * *

"_Mom couldn't come today, she was taking Cassie for her shots." Thea said, visiting Punk one night, "And Jude was with Renee. Dean dropped me off." She told Punk who nodded._

"_Cassie must be getting big, huh?" Punk smiled as Thea nodded._

"_Yeah well she's a month old." Thea nodded, "She is getting big."_

"_You still helping with the diapers or have you did your fair share?" Punk smiled._

"_No, I still help." Thea nodded, "Aren't you and mom gonna get a divorce now?" She asked him as he looked across at her._

_He noticed, with each passing visit, Thea's attitude getting more negative as the days went by. He didn't blame her, she was clearly hurting and that broke his heart. He just felt like he couldn't get through to her like he used to. It was very clear that she didn't trust him._

"_We're not… we're not getting a divorce." Punk shook his head, "Honestly, I don't know what's gonna happen. It's been a rough couple months. Cassie being born is your mom's priority right now and I get that. We'll… we'll have time to talk." He said._

"_You guys should get a divorce." Thea advised as Punk looked at her._

"_Babe, that'll be our decision." Punk nodded, "Not yours."_

"_Well what's the point? You're in here for thirteen years-"_

"_I told you, I'm not gonna do the full time. I'll do half if I'm lucky." He said._

"_Yeah and that's still a long time." Thea shook her head, "Mom deserves better than wasting her life waiting on you." She said coldly as Punk sighed to himself._

"_Thea, I know your mad at me right now." Punk understood, "But, me being in here doesn't change how I feel. Me and your mom still love each other. I still love you. You know that, right?" He asked as she looked at him._

"_You're not gonna be here." Thea said, "I can't just replace you." She shook her head._

"_I know. I know you can't." Punk sighed to himself, "And you don't have to. I know it's not ideal but I'm still here for you, to talk to, to hug." Punk nodded, "I'm never gonna turn you away." He promised. _

_He never wanted his children to see him this way, in a place where the lowest of the low went, but he wasn't going to turn his back on them. He needed them to get him through this. _

"_Why did you do what you did?" She questioned, "If you did love us, you wouldn't have." She shook her head._

"_Sometimes things happen that you can't… you can't control. You find yourself in situations you don't want to be in." Punk nodded as Thea looked at him, "You'll grow up and you'll… you'll know what I mean."_

"_I'll grow up without you." Thea said, "I practically don't have a dad." She said as Punk sighed, looking across at her._

_He tried to put himself in her shoes. In her teenage brain. And he understood why she felt the way she did. _

"_Thea." Punk sighed._

"_I'm gonna go." Thea told him, getting up from the table and walking off as Punk sighed to himself, running his hands over his face. He was worried about her, worried about the wall she was already putting up against him._

* * *

Thea woke up the next morning, screwing her eyes up as she looked at the brightness coming from under the curtains, realising it wasn't her curtains she was staring at, lifting her head from the pillow as she turned around in bed, noticing she wasn't alone.

She rolled her eyes, placing her hand on her forehead to support the banging headache she had. She couldn't even remember how she got where she was. Truth was, she didn't know where she was, and she certainly didn't know the man in the same bed as her. She remembered visions of the night, she remembered having too much to drink of course, and finding someone to go home with.

She got out of the bed quietly, looking around the room floor for her clothes, finding them quickly and putting them back on. She picked her purse up, taking her phone out and groaning as she saw all the missed calls and text messages from her mom.

She walked around the bed quietly, looking at the man in the bed, spotting a wedding band on his finger as she shuddered. She needed to get the hell out as quickly as possible.

She left the bedroom as quietly as she possibly could, trying to fix her messy dark hair as she slid out of the bedroom door, taking light footsteps towards the stairs, pausing when she noticed someone standing at a room door, looking across at the young girl standing in her pyjamas looking at her.

She had to have been thirteen or fourteen, staring at Thea without saying anything.

Thea gulped, staring at the girl's hurtful eyes before quickly running down the stairs, grabbing hold of the door handle and running out of the house, feeling like she couldn't breathe.

She got her phone out and called the only person she felt she could talk to, waiting outside a coffee shop for the arrival.

"I'm here." Sam announced, walking over to Thea who was standing by the shop, "Here." She gave Thea a hoodie that she'd brought with her as Thea took it, beginning to cry as Sam frowned, "Oh, sweetie." Sam sighed, wrapping her arms around Thea who cried into her shoulder.

All she could see was the young girl's face from the house she'd just ran out of.

"I need to call my mom." Thea said as Sam nodded.

"Yeah, I've had her on the phone since 5am this morning." Sam said, "Let's go in here and you can call her." She nodded, opening the door to the coffee shop as Thea walked in with Sam.


	36. Changed

**Changed**

* * *

"What the hell happened last night?" Sam asked, sitting down in the coffee shop with Thea after buying her a coffee. She definitely looked like she needed it.

"I… I don't know." Thea shook her head, "I got home and… and I had a fight with my mom. It wasn't really a fight it was just… about my dad." She nodded, "I just wanted to get out of the house."

"Where'd you go?" Sam asked.

"I called one of my friends from college and we went to some bar where we know the people. We get cheaper drinks." She explained.

"Not always a good thing." Sam scoffed.

"And then we ended up in some club. I really… I didn't want to go out for that kind of night, I just wanted a couple… just one or two." She said as Sam watched her.

"Did you take anything?" Sam sighed.

"Uh… no, no but I ended up at some house with a guy." Thea groaned, "He had a wedding ring on." Thea sighed to herself with a lump at the back of her throat as Sam groaned.

"Thea." Sam sighed.

"I don't know how I even got there. I just… I remember not wanting to go home." Thea said as Sam nodded.

"Your mom called me up at 5am, hoping that you'd come to my house." Sam said, "She's so worried about you. You can't… you can't do this to her, she's been there for you through so much. Held your hand through it all." Sam said, "And you've been doing so great." Sam said as Thea ran her hands over her face, "You can't use this as an escape. Take it from me." Sam scoffed.

"I just hate him so much." Thea whispered.

"No you don't." Sam sighed, "Don't you think you should talk to him? Get everything you're feeling out, tell him about everything-"

"No." Thea shook her head, "No, I don't wanna talk to him." Thea said, "He was a drug dealer and he got what he deserved. That's all I need to know." Thea shook her head.

"Sweetie, he's your dad. And you loved your dad so much." Sam nodded, "You can't just erase him from everything."

"Well I don't need him anymore so… what's the point? Jude doesn't even need him. And Cassie will get to know him just in time for him to get shipped back off to prison again, because it's gonna happen, you and I both know it-"

"No, it's not." Sam said, "You're telling yourself that so you don't have to get close to him again. Thea, no one blames you for acting the way you have. You're right, he was a drug dealer and he did get caught. And he missed out on everything. He missed out on you growing up. He wasn't there when you really needed your dad." Sam nodded, "But he knows all of that, and no one is beating him up more about it than himself."

"No, he thinks he can just come back and worm his way into our lives again." Thea said, "And honestly, I'm betting he ends up back together with my mom. They have this… toxic relationship-"

"It's not toxic, now you're just straight up lying." Sam rolled her eyes, "And being dramatic, might I add."

"I'm not being dramatic." Thea defended.

"You are." Sam nodded, "Babe, I know it's tough. I know it sucks. I grew up with no dad. Mine didn't care enough to come back or stay. Yours does. I know my son and I know he loves his children. What he got caught doing has no reflection on him as a father-"

"It does. He was risking being our father every time he stepped out the door to go… supply drugs." Thea shook her head.

"And you've just slept with a married man." Sam batted back as Thea looked at her.

"That was… that was a mistake. I didn't know he was… look, that's nothing to do with this." Thea shook her head.

"Exactly. A mistake. You made a mistake. So did he-"

"Yeah, he made a mistake. And then a few years later he made it again. That's not mistakes, that's being stupid." Thea shook her head.

"He was protecting your mom, you know all of this." Sam said as Thea rolled her eyes.

"I could be in trouble." Thea sighed to herself, folding her arms and leaning back against the chair.

"What the hell do you mean?" Sam asked.

"When I was leaving that house… a girl saw me, his daughter I suppose." Thea cringed as Sam rolled her eyes.

"Thea." Sam shook her head, "Aren't you with Jackson?"

"No, we broke up." Thea shrugged.

"When?" Sam shook her head.

"Like… a day ago." Thea looked down as Sam shook her head.

"You're more like your father than you think." Sam scoffed as Thea shook her head, "Drink your coffee. You're gonna need it when you see your mom." She advised.

It wasn't hard for Sam to see that she was struggling with her own self. Her own thoughts about her father.

* * *

Thea finished her coffee before Sam walked her home, leaving her at the door as Thea dreaded walking into her house.

She opened up the door quietly, stepping in as she heard her mother storming down the stairs.

"Just know I've never been this angry before so be careful what you say to me." AJ warned as Thea looked across at her, "Get in the kitchen." She spat as Thea walked through to the kitchen.

"I'm ok. I… nothing bad happened." Thea told her immediately.

"That's good. I'm glad you're telling me that at 11am the next morning. I had to call into work this morning to let them know I wouldn't be in, waiting on you coming home." AJ spat, "I wake up and I see your bed empty and I feel sick to my stomach, Thea!" AJ exclaimed as Thea looked across at her, keeping her head down, "And you don't answer any calls or texts."

Of course she felt ashamed. She wasn't completely in denial.

"I'm sorry." Thea shook her head, "I got carried away."

"Where did you go? Did you spend the night with someone?" AJ questioned.

"It doesn't matter." Thea said.

"It matters to me. Where you were and… and who you were with?" AJ spat.

"I woke up in some married guy's bed, ok?" Thea nodded, "And I was so drink I don't even remember going with him." She said as AJ looked at her.

"Tell me you're kidding on." AJ prayed as Thea shook her head, "I… I don't even know what to say to you." AJ said, pretty speechless. Her daughter wasn't a spiteful or nasty person. In fact, she had the biggest heart with so much love and goodness in her.

"It's fine, you can tell me how much I disgust you." Thea nodded, "Odds are I feel the same way about myself, so don't worry about it." Thea said.

"That's it, you're not drinking anymore. It's… it's very obvious you can't handle it. And I want you to do a test for me too." AJ said as Thea looked across at her, "You have no idea how much this hurts me, seeing you like this." She shook her head as Thea looked at her.

"I'm sorry." Thea sighed.

"We're all hurting, Thea. It all hurt us. It still hurts." AJ said, "Knowing how much your father missed. How much it hurt you to lose him." She said, "But you can't deal with things like this." She shook her head as Thea looked at her with teary eyes, "This isn't who you are." She shook her head.

Thea didn't know what to say. She could see how angry and hurt her mother was, and she hated what she put her through. She was just as disappointed in herself as her mother was.

"I want you to go that test right now." AJ shook her head, walking over to her purse and grabbing out the drug testing kit as Thea sighed to herself, "Bring it down to me when you're done." She told her as Thea nodded.

Thea knew it wasn't about her mother not trusting her. It was to ease her mind, to lessen the worrying she did.

"Ok." Thea nodded quietly, leaving the kitchen and waking upstairs with the kit.

She walked into her room, sitting down on her bed and placing the kit over, rubbing her hands over her face and sighing to herself, listening to her mother banging dishes around downstairs with anger.

She opened up her drawer beside her bed, digging down the side of it and taking out the picture of her and Punk, a long time ago, when she was young and her father was her best friend.

* * *

"_Daddy." Three year old Thea whispered, poking Punk's cheek as she sat in between her parents on their bed._

"_Huh?" Punk grumbled._

"_Wake up." Thea jumped on him, "I'm hungry." She whispered._

_They still lived in their apartment, all three of them sharing the one room, cramped but working on a better life every day._

"_Five more minutes." Punk whispered._

"_No." Thea whispered back in the same tone, "Now. Let's go." She told him, squishing his cheeks as Punk laughed, feeling her climb over him and jump off the bed, grabbing his hands and trying to pull him up_

"_Ok ok." Punk laughed, sitting up and smiling as he watched her run over to her bed in the corner of the room, grabbing one of her teddy bears and running back around to him, "Which one is this?"_

"_Stuart." Thea told him, "Like Stuart little. Because he's a mouse." She showed him as Punk smiled._

"_Ok, hop on." Punk stood up, watching as she climbed up onto the bed, jumping onto his back as he carried her around the bed, heading out of the bedroom._

_AJ smiled as she opened her eyes, watching Punk carrying Thea out of the room on his back like he did every morning._

"_What are you having? Cereal?" Punk asked, carrying Thea through to the kitchen, opening up one of the cupboards, jumping as it came completely off the hinges._

"_Uh oh." Thea giggled as Punk groaned._

"_What happened?!" AJ called from the bedroom, hearing the commotion._

"_Right cupboard door is off!" Punk called back, listening to AJ groaning as Punk chuckled to himself._

"_Now we can see what's in it all the time." Thea pointed out as Punk sat the cupboard door down in the corner._

"_That's true." Punk agreed, feeling her little arms holding on around his neck, "Cereal?" He asked her._

"_Yes." Thea nodded as Punk sat her down at the kitchen table, getting a bowl out and making her cereal whilst Thea collected her spoon._

"_I hope it's up to your usual standard." Punk said, sitting her cereal over whilst he grabbed a banana for himself._

"_Yes, it is." Thea looked at the cereal, digging in immediately as Punk sat down beside her._

"_Can I have a bit of the banana?" She asked. Any food he ever ate, Thea definitely always asked for a bit._

"_Yeah, here." Punk broke off a piece and gave her it, "I swear you do that just to test me." He sussed her out as Thea smirked to herself._

"_Daddy are you going to work today?" Thea asked, eating her cereal, one cheerio at a time._

"_Yeah, I gotta go get ready soon." Punk looked over at the clock, "In fact, I'm gonna go take a shower whilst you have your cereal." He nodded, "You want your colouring books in?"_

"_Yes, please." Thea nodded._

_They didn't have a TV in the apartment, they couldn't afford it with all the saving they were doing to try and move to a better house. Things were tight, but they had each other._

_Punk left Thea in the kitchen with her breakfast and colouring books whilst he headed for a shower. Mornings were his favourite. After a year in prison, he appreciated the finer things in life. Waking up to his favourite girls, being at peace, having so much love in his life. Every day above ground was a good one._

_He got out of the shower, walking back into the bedroom with a towel around his waist as AJ looked over and smiled._

"_Eyes back in your head, Mendez." Punk hummed as AJ chuckled._

"_Is Thea ok?" AJ asked him._

"_Yeah, she's chowing down some cheerios." Punk nodded, getting ready for work, running his hands through his shoulder length blonde hair._

"_She's happiest when she's got her cheerios." AJ nodded._

"_Yeah, don't I know." Punk chuckled, grabbing a brush and a hair band, as well as his bandana, "You sleep good?" He asked her, walking around her beside of the bed as she nodded with a smile._

"_Mhm." She smiled, watching him lean down and kiss her softly. She scratched under his chin playfully as he smiled._

"_Gotta go get my hair done now." He nodded to her as she smiled to herself, watching him leave the room and head back into the kitchen, "Ok, kiddo… let's get this mop tied back." He nodded, taking a seat as Thea smiled, standing up on her chair and taking the brush from him._

_She brushed his back into the hair band, tying it around before grabbing the bandana and tying it at the back for him._

"_There." Thea smiled happily._

"_Perfect." Punk said, kissing her cheek as she sat back down to finish her cereal, "I'll see you after work, ok?" He nodded._

"_Ok." She smiled, watching him stick out his fist as she gave him a fist bump and giggled. _


	37. Worried

**Worried**

* * *

"_Mom?" Thea said quietly, walking into the living room, looking over at her mother sitting on the couch, holding her one month old baby sister in her arms whilst dozing._

"_Mhm?" AJ said, "I'm just resting my eyes." She said quietly._

"_Do you want me to put her to bed?" Thea asked as AJ opened her eyes and looked over to her._

_Since having Cassie, she felt like she'd neglected her oldest daughter's. She knew she had done no such thing, but with a new-born, things were chaotic anyway, but doing it on her own, it was even harder._

"_Come sit with me." AJ nodded to Thea. She was particularly worried about her eldest daughter. She saw the change in her. The sadness. And she felt the exact same. The fact they couldn't do anything about this awful situation was the worst part._

"_I can take her up to her crib." Thea nodded as AJ smiled._

_Thea had been the biggest help to her. Helping her take care of Cassie, keeping Jude occupied. She even cooked dinner one night._

"_She's ok here." AJ nodded, rubbing her baby girl's back softly as Cassie slept against her chest like a little angel, "How you doing? You ok?" She asked as Thea nodded._

"_I'm fine." Thea nodded as AJ looked at her._

"_Well I'm not fine." AJ told her truthfully as Thea looked at her, "And that's ok." She assured Thea. She didn't want her daughter thinking she had to be this brave solider who didn't let things get her down. She was old enough that AJ could talk to her about this._

"_Are you ok?" Thea asked her._

"_I don't think so." AJ shook her head, "I miss your dad." She said as Thea nodded, "And I know you think he's to blame. And maybe… maybe I think it too at times." She sighed to herself, "But we're only looking for someone to be mad at." She said as Thea nodded._

"_He's gonna be gone for so long." Thea sighed as AJ nodded._

"_I know, baby." AJ sighed, "I know."_

"_I'm going to be an adult." Thea said. It scared her to think that the next time she'd see her dad out of prison, was when she was all grown up. She hated that. She was mad about that. And as a teenager with so many emotions running through her brain, she just didn't know how to feel about any of it._

"_I can't do or say anything to make it better." AJ told her honestly, "I know that. And I hate that." She said, "But I can be here for you, all three of you." AJ nodded, "Because it's just gonna be us now." AJ took a deep breath as Thea looked down._

_She watched as Thea began to cry, trying not to show it, but watching it overwhelm her. It was the first time she'd really saw her cry since Punk had gone to prison. It was like she was holding it all in, and suddenly, just let it go._

"_I don't want him to be in there." Thea cried, rubbing her eyes._

"_I know, baby." AJ sighed, her voice breaking as she wrapped her arm around Thea who curled into her and cried, "I know." AJ closed her eyes._

* * *

"Where is she?" Sam asked, sitting in the kitchen with AJ who had called her over to the house.

"She's sleeping." AJ shook her head, "I don't know what to do. It's like she's hit a wall again." She sighed, "She passed the drug test but… I mean it's obvious she can't drink either."

"It might just be the situation right now with Phil that's spiralling it out of control." Sam suggested.

"She slept with a married guy." AJ groaned, massaging her head, "That's not Thea. She's… she's not like that."

"I know, she told me." Sam shook her head, "Stupid girl. I thought she was still with Jackson?"

"They broke up… a day or two ago." AJ shook her head.

"You know what I'm going to say to you, don't you?" Sam nodded as AJ looked across at her.

"What?" AJ shook her head.

"Well… Phil is gonna find out that Jackson has been dating Thea." Sam said, "It's something I would tell him about before he finds out for himself." She suggested.

"How do I tell him that his daughter is… was dating the boy who got him sent to prison in the first place. And then it'll only be a matter of time before Thea finds out and… that will just send her over the edge." AJ shook her head at the thought.

"Look I think you and Phil made the right call not to tell her. She'd hate herself if she found out that what she told Jackson helped in getting Phil sent down." Sam said, "But I don't think Phil was bargaining on her growing up and dating the boy."

"Well what was I supposed to do? Stop them?" AJ shook her head, "Look, I hated it as much as you did. And I've had conversations with Jackson about it, many times." AJ nodded, "But Thea loves him and at one point, he made her happy and that… I wanted that for her. She deserved some good in her life." AJ sighed.

"I know." Sam nodded, "Poor thing hasn't had it easy. My heart hurts for her. She seems so confused."

"She watched her dad just get ripped out of her life." AJ shook her head, "I should have known him coming back would have hit her hard. I should have been prepared for this." AJ said.

"April, for the love of God, don't beat yourself up. You've went through shit too. You've raised those girls on your own and you've been amazing." Sam said, "Don't be so tough on yourself."

"I just don't know what to do about Thea." AJ sighed, "Jude and Cassie are doing good. Cassie met Phil the other night. A part of me sort wanted to be there to see it but… that's his moment." AJ nodded, "And she had a good time. She was talking about him all night. And Jude obviously… always got along with him. Always visited him. Always defended him." AJ nodded.

"Jude and Cassie weren't old enough to feel the pain of losing him. Thea was." Sam said as AJ nodded.

"I'm gonna need to tell Phil about everything." AJ sighed to herself, "I initially wanted Thea to tell him but there's no way in hell she's talking to him any time soon." She shook her head, "And he has a right to know."

"He'll blame himself. You know him." Sam sighed.

"I know. I know he will, that's why I don't want to tell him." AJ shook her head.

"How are you feeling?" Sam asked as AJ looked at her with confusion, "Well, all this talk about the girls and Phil, how do you feel seeing him again? After all this time? I know you stopped visiting him a couple years ago but-"

"It's strange. It's not like the first time when he came back from prison." AJ shook her head, "We'd argue all the time then. It'd be constant fighting about where it all went wrong. But this time it's just… it is what it is. Nothing can change what's happened."

"Well you were just kids back then." Sam said, "A lot of grown up has been done."

"I still feel like a kid when I see him actually." AJ shook her head, "How has he been? Is he ok?" She asked.

"He's doing ok." Sam nodded, "Has his moments, I guess. He's got a job which is great. And I can see how much it means to him to be able to see Jude and Cassie." She nodded, "But I know Thea is also on his mind."

"Yeah, I'm gonna need to talk to him about her. And everything that happened." AJ nodded.

"I'd give it time. See how Thea goes in the next few days. I just think she doesn't know how to deal with all these emotions and feelings." Sam said, "And I know a thing or two about using alcohol to escape them."

"I don't want her to do that, though, Sam." AJ said, "No offence to you, but alcohol isn't the solution. I don't preach that to my daughter's. You got problems, you face them. Even if you gotta cry your way through them." AJ said as Sam nodded slowly.

"Trust me, I know that." Sam nodded.

"Every time I look at her I just see that thirteen year old little girl who was heartbroken." AJ shook her head, "It's like it's hurting her all over again."

"You're doing all you can. You just gotta be there to support her and talk to her." Sam said as AJ nodded, "You were incredible helping her through everything, especially on your own. If she's ever gonna open up to someone, it's gonna be you." Sam said as AJ sighed.

"I wish she would." AJ nodded.

"Give her time." Sam nodded.

"I can't believe she slept with a married guy." AJ scoffed.

"It's not like her to do something like that." Sam said, "Apparently his kid saw her leaving the house."

"Jesus." AJ whispered to herself, rubbing her forehead, "So I potentially might get a very angry, cheated on wife showing up at my door?" AJ questioned.

"Maybe." Sam said.

"Great." AJ nodded, "I worry about her. I worry about her so much." AJ shook her head.

"I know you do." Sam said, "It's what mother's do, right? I mean… I know you might not think it but I always worried about Phil and Dean, what they were doing, where they were certain nights. I didn't show it, of course but… I worried." Sam understood.

"Speaking of Dean." AJ said, "Has he been to see Phil?"

"Yeah but they sort of clashed. I think Phil was hurt that Dean stopped visiting him." Sam said.

"I'm not surprised." AJ said, "They'll talk it out." She predicted as Sam nodded.

"Jude and Cass at school?" Sam asked as AJ nodded.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "Cassie is already talking about Phil going to one of her soccer games." AJ said, "It's so strange hearing them talk about him again, having him around." She shook her head as Sam nodded.

"It is." Sam agreed.

"Has he spoken about prison at all?" AJ asked curiously.

"April, it's me and Phil we're talking about, he barely chats to me about the weather." Sam laughed a little, "You know fine well he'd only open up to you." She said as AJ sighed.

"I just hope he's not bottling anything up." AJ nodded, "I still care about him, obviously."

"You predicting anything?" Sam asked as AJ shook her head.

"I'm really not." AJ said, "I love him, of course I do but this was all too much. My main priority are my girls. It… I can't even describe how hard it was when he'd gone." AJ shook her head, "I don't feel like I'll recover from that."

"I know." Sam sighed.

"I'm gonna go take some water and aspirin up to Thea." She stood up, getting a bottle of water from the fridge and some pills.

She headed on upstairs with the water and pills, making her way into Thea's bedroom where she saw her fast asleep in bed.

She sighed to herself and walked further in, sitting the bottle of water and pills down on the bedside table, where she noticed a picture sitting out.

She sighed as she picked it up, looking on at the picture from many years ago. Punk had a very young Thea on his back, whilst she had one of his bandanas around her head. She couldn't remember taking the picture, but that was only because they had so many wonderful memories worth capturing. It was important to remember that.

She sat the picture back down, leaning over and planting a kiss on Thea's head, hoping that she could find peace, hoping that things would get better for her, for all of them.


	38. No More

**No More**

* * *

"_Thea! Get out of the bathroom!" AJ yelled, banging at the bathroom door upstairs, "I will bust down that door." She warned as nine year old Jude came out of her bedroom._

"_Mom?" Jude rubbed her eyes tiredly, "What's going on?"_

"_Sorry, baby… it's ok, just… just go back to bed." AJ nodded to her._

"_Is Thea sick again?" Jude asked as AJ looked across at her._

"_N-No… no, she's fine." AJ sighed, "Why don't you go into mommy's bed and put a movie on." She suggested as Jude nodded, wandering her way into her mother's bedroom and closing the door over whilst AJ turned her attention back to the bathroom._

_It had been four years since Punk had gone to prison. Nothing about it had gotten easier. It had definitely sunk in that this was their reality, but no amount of time was ever going to stop them from missing him. _

_It hadn't been easy anyway, but the past few months had been particularly hard._

"_Thea, I swear you better get your butt out here." AJ spat, suddenly listening as the door unlocked, watching her seventeen year old daughter open the door up._

"_Why are you making so much noise?" Thea spat, pushing by her mother and walking into her bedroom as AJ followed her._

"_Look at me." AJ spat, grabbing Thea's hand as Thea turned to her, looking into her eyes, "What the hell have you taken?" AJ questioned._

"_Nothing." Thea snatched her hand back, "Can you get out of my face?" She spat, watching as her mother began looking around her room, "What the hell are you doing?"_

"_What the hell are you taking? Because you're not just high anymore, Thea." AJ spat, "And you're never at school, I get phone calls every day telling me you've missed classes." AJ shook her head as Thea rolled her eyes._

_It had been that kind of hard. It started off with her daughter coming home high or drunk. AJ was of course mad, but she gave it a pass, she figured it was just Thea's age and the fact she was growing up into a young adult. But as weeks went by, things seemed to get worse. Some nights she wouldn't come home. She always seemed to be out of her face or sleeping. Having grown up around drug addicts, AJ could spot it from a while away, and her heart had never hurt so much._

"_Can you stop going through all of my stuff?" Thea spat angrily, watching AJ tear her drawers apart, literally taking them off the hinges and throwing them on the floor, "You're literally insane."_

"_Is it Jackson? Is he giving you stuff?" AJ questioned, "Huh?"_

"_Mom, stop it." Thea worried, watching her mother pull out cabinets from the wall, realising she was about to get found out, "Mom." Thea attempted to go pull her mother away._

"_What the hell is this?" AJ spat, pulling out bags of white powder from behind a cabinet as Thea looked over._

"_It's… it's salt." Thea laughed a little as AJ turned to her. Come to think of it, AJ couldn't remember the last time she'd saw Thea in a sober or clean state._

"_What the hell is this?!" AJ yelled loudly as Thea looked at her. She knew what it was in simple terms, and it scared her to death, but she wanted specifics. _

"_Go ask dad. He'll know." Thea shrugged, "Or wait… you're the drug dealer, you should know." Thea chuckled as AJ glared across at her._

"_Is this what we're doing?" AJ spat, holding up the bags of white powder, "Is this the road you wanna go down?" AJ questioned, "You're seventeen years old._

"_Exactly. I got my whole life ahead of me-"_

"_You keep doing this shit and you have no life ahead of you!" AJ yelled as Thea looked at her, "How long have you been doing this?" AJ spat as Thea shrugged, "Answer me!" AJ shouted._

"_A couple… months." Thea shrugged, folding her arms and losing her balance a little as she stumbled back._

"_Oh my God, Thea." AJ placed her hand on her forehead. It was every parent's worst nightmare and she just couldn't believe Thea was doing this, "Why?" AJ shook her head helplessly, "Why are you doing this?" She looked across at Thea who shrugged._

"_Feels good." Thea mumbled, sitting down on her bed. _

"_Are you getting this from Jackson?" AJ questioned._

"_No. No, I'm not." Thea rolled her eyes, "Just someone at school who knows someone." She shrugged._

"_How are you paying for it?" AJ questioned. She already knew the answer to this, but she wanted Thea to admit to it, she needed to hear what she was dealing with._

"_I use the money you give me for lunch at school." Thea shrugged._

"_Jude told me I forgot to give her money last week for school… did you take that?" AJ spat as Thea looked at her and nodded._

"_I'll… I'll give it all back." Thea nodded._

"_You're going to a counselling group." AJ pointed, "You're gonna kill yourself you stupid girl!" AJ spat as Thea just looked at her, unbothered. _

"_Ok." Thea mumbled, lying down on her bed._

"_And you're going to see your father." AJ spat._

"_You're right. I am. I will." Thea nodded, "And I'm gonna tell him I don't wanna see him anymore. Because I don't." She said, lying on her bed and looking up at the ceiling. To her, the whole room was spinning._

"_Don't be ridiculous." AJ spat._

"_Can't stop me." Thea mumbled._

_The girls and AJ had continuously visited Punk for the past four years. Thea had never really got on board with it. She struggled to talk to Punk, she feared the day would come where she wouldn't go back to the prison to see him._

"_You need help, Thea." AJ shook her head._

"_Yeah well dad isn't gonna give me help." Thea mumbled, falling asleep as AJ watched her. She was so high that she was falling asleep with her eyes rolling back._

_AJ searched around the entire room, under every cabinet, behind every dresser, in coat pockets and shoes. Everywhere, to make sure there was nothing else in the room she could get. _

_She left the bedroom and walked into the bathroom, flushing the white powder down the toilet with shaking hands, finding herself collapsing down on the bathroom floor as she done so, tears running down her cheeks, thinking about what she could have done better to prevent this. It was only natural to blame herself. _

* * *

"_I don't wanna go in." Thea shook her head, sitting in the passenger's side of the car beside her mother. Weeks later._

"_Thea, you can't just cut him off." AJ said, turning to her daughter. _

_She looked ill. Her clothes were too big for her, her eyes were tired and she was always pale and ghostly. After claiming she didn't want to go see Punk anymore, in amongst all the chaos that was going on, AJ thought it was best she went and spoke to Punk._

"_I can." Thea said._

"_He's your father." AJ said._

"_What the hell does that even mean?" Thea shook her head, turning to her mother and noticing she was crying, "Mom." Thea sat up a little._

"_Can you please just go and see him, Thea." AJ cried as Thea watched her, "Please." AJ said a little louder._

"_Ok." Thea said immediately, "Ok, fine." She shook her head, opening up the car door and getting out as AJ leaned her head against the car window, covering her hand over her face whilst Thea headed into the prison._

_Thea signed in to see her father, walking into the visitation room and waiting at a table. She knew that her habits were causing her mother distress and so much worry, and she hated herself for that. She always would. But in that moment, it was clear as day that it was her mother who was there for her. Not her father._

_She waited on him coming out, watching as he came out of the door with some other inmates. It wasn't a sight she could get used to. And as she grew older each year, she knew the significance of watching her father in prison. _

_She saw the surprise on his face when he saw her. She hadn't been to see him in a long time, what with focusing her attention on other things, other substances._

"_Hey." Punk said with relief._

"_Hi." Thea said, standing up and giving him a hug. None of this was about her not loving him anymore._

_Punk hugged her tightly, not being able to help feel alarmed when he did so. He felt like he was hugging a skeleton._

"_You good?" Punk kissed her head as Thea just nodded._

"_Yeah." Thea said quietly, sitting back down as he sat across from her. _

_He'd watched her grow up from a young teen, to a young adult the past four years, and every visit he saw her more and more distant. It broke his heart, but he knew hers was breaking too._

"_How have you been? I felt like I've not saw you in so long." Punk shook his head._

_Whilst Jude came to visit him with AJ every week, Thea hadn't been coming as much._

"_I've just been busy." Thea shrugged, "School and stuff." She nodded._

"_How is school?" Punk asked her._

"_It's fine." Thea lied. Truth was, she was failing pretty much every class due to all the time she'd missed. But she didn't plan on telling him any of that. _

"_You look kinda pale. Have you been sick?" Punk asked. He didn't think for a second that she was rehabbing a drug addiction. It didn't cross his mind because he never would have thought of his daughter in that kind of situation._

"_Yeah, I've not been feeling good." Thea shrugged as Punk nodded._

"_How is mom?" Punk asked. _

_She could have told him that she was currently out in the car crying, but she chose not to, "She's fine." Thea nodded, "Everyone is fine." She summed up, to prevent any more questions as Punk nodded._

"_You been watching the playoffs?" Punk asked her as Thea looked at him._

"_I'm not visiting you anymore." Thea shook her head as Punk looked across at her._

"_What?" Punk shook his head._

"_I don't wanna come see you anymore." Thea said as Punk looked at her, "It's too much and it's pointless." She shrugged._

"_Pointless?" Punk questioned, "Thea, I still want to be in your life-"_

"_You're not, though." Thea said, "So what's the point?" She questioned, "It's just dragging both of us down and I don't want to have a relationship with my dad like this." She said as Punk looked at her. He feared this day was going to come._

"_Thea, you don't have to do this." Punk shook his head, "Don't push me away." He sighed._

"_Sorry." Thea nodded, "I just don't wanna do this anymore." She said, standing up from the chair._

"_Thea." Punk shook his head frantically, fear sinking in that this was the last time he was going to see her for a very long time, "Thea, please." He stood up._

"_I'm sorry." Thea nodded to him, walking away out of the visitation room as Punk ran his hands through his hair, collapsing back down onto the chair and placing his hands over his mouth._

* * *

"Hey." Punk shook his head with confusion, opening the door up to see AJ standing.

"Hi." AJ nodded politely, "Can I come in?"

"Sure." Punk nodded, letting her into the house as she stepped in, "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah." AJ nodded briefly, walking into the living room, "Where is Sam?"

"She's out… somewhere." Punk shook his head, "I was actually looking at apartment listings." He pointed over to the paper where he was circling apartments.

"Yeah? You see any you like?" AJ asked him.

"A few." Punk nodded.

"Well I came here to give you this." AJ said, reaching into her purse and grabbing the ticket out, extending it over to him, "Ticket to Cassie's soccer game this Friday." She nodded, "She's really excited for you to come." She said, watching the smile on his face light it up.

"I'm excited to come." Punk nodded, looking at the ticket, "Thank you." He nodded to her as she smiled, "Did you come all the way over here to give me this?" He questioned curiously, "Cause I'm seeing them both tomorrow, I figured Cassie could have gave me it then." He said.

"Oh, you don't know Cassie. She's got a mind like a sieve and she's also very clumsy. Loses everything." AJ nodded as Punk nodded and smiled, "But… I didn't just come here to give you the ticket." She said as he nodded.

"What's up?" Punk asked her.

"Me and you gotta talk." AJ nodded to him, sitting her purse down on the couch as Punk looked across at her.

"What about?" Punk asked.

"Thea." AJ nodded, "And you're gonna need a coffee." She advised. She couldn't put it off any longer. It was something, as parents, they needed to talk about. More so now that Punk was out of prison. She knew it wasn't going to be a nice conversation, and she really wanted Thea to be the one to talk to Punk about it, but it was clear that wasn't going to happen any time soon.


	39. Blame

**Blame**

* * *

"Here." Punk nodded, passing AJ over a coffee in the kitchen as AJ took it from him.

"Thanks." AJ said, watching as he sat down across from her at the kitchen table.

"Something tells me I'm not gonna like what you have to say." Punk said, looking across at her.

"No, I don't think you will." AJ agreed, "I don't even know where to start." AJ shook her head. She never thought she'd have to have this discussion with him about their daughter. It was truly heart-breaking.

"Take your time." Punk nodded. His stomach was in knots, he could see how nervous AJ was to tell him, which only told him that it wasn't good. Not at all.

"A couple years, three or four, after you'd gone, I noticed Thea stopped talking to me. I mean she never really opened up about anything anyway but, she was really shut off. I thought she was just growing up." AJ said, "Then one night she came home and I could tell she was high." She nodded as Punk looked across at her, his shoulders tightening as he looked down.

"She was seventeen and I just thought she was growing up, so I let it slide. Once wasn't gonna do anything, and that's all I thought it was. Just once." AJ said, "And then… it kept happening." She nodded, "And instead of being high sometimes she'd be drunk." She said.

"How drunk?" Punk shook his head.

"Can't stand up drunk." AJ nodded as Punk ran his hands over his face, "I did everything I suppose any parent would do. I spoke to her, I kept her from going out, I tried to take her mind off things and for a while I thought it was working." She said, "And then it… it got way worse."

"With drink?" Punk asked as AJ looked at him.

"She developed a drug addiction." AJ nodded, "Cocaine. Not that it matters what it was." AJ rolled her eyes, watching as he just stared off into a daze, "Sometimes it got so bad that I had to lock her in her room." She said, "She never went to school. She was just constantly out of her face. I mean I… weeks went by and I hadn't saw her clean or sober." She said, looking across at him.

He wasn't saying anything. She didn't expect him to. It was clear he was in shock, just as she was when it all happened.

"I kept thinking to myself… was this my fault? Was I not hard enough on her? Was I making it hard for her to talk to me?" AJ sighed, "I kept going over it and over it in my head but… I couldn't waste time on that, she… she needed help." AJ nodded.

"How long was she…"

"About a year. Off and on. She'd be clean one minute and then… high the next." AJ said, "It was a vicious cycle of rehab and then relapse." She nodded, "I was so worried about her. I made her sleep in my room with me because I didn't… I was scared she would just wander off." She sighed.

She paused, looking across at Punk as he stayed silent. She knew he wouldn't know what to say. What could he say?

"She finally started taking it more seriously. She was in rehab every week. She missed out on a full school year but I talked to the school and she was gonna just retake everything the next year." AJ said, "When she decided that she didn't want to see you anymore, she was in the middle of it all. I thought maybe once she'd recovered that she'd wanna go see you again but… she never did." AJ shrugged.

"This is my fault." Punk whispered to himself.

"No… no, it's not your fault. This is why I didn't want to tell you. It was no one's fault." AJ shook her head, "I blamed myself too, for so long, thinking that I let her get that way but… it's not something any of us could control, it wasn't something Thea could control." AJ said.

"If I was there-"

"You can't think like that." AJ shook her head, "The… The positive news is that she got better. She's been clear for almost three years now. But… alcohol is still an issue." She nodded.

"What do you mean it's still an issue?" Punk questioned.

"Well when she got better from the drug addiction, I told her that she can't go near anything, no drugs, no alcohol… but she proved that the alcohol was ok. When she went to college, and she went out with her friends, she'd be fine, she'd come home perfectly fine, it didn't seem an issue." AJ nodded, "But recently it's sort of gotten out of control." She said.

"Recently as in… when I got out?" Punk figured as AJ just looked at him, "April, why didn't you tell me?" Punk shook his head, "When I was in prison?"

"I was going to." AJ said, "That day I came to see you, after Thea told you she didn't wanna see you anymore, I planned to tell you about it, but you just went off on me… you started telling me it was my fault that Thea didn't wanna see you, and that just… that made me mad. More mad than you can imagine." AJ nodded, "Because here I was, dragging Thea to rehab every week, sitting in the bathroom watching her throw up, lying in bed beside her, watching her to make sure that she didn't choke on her own vomit… and you were blaming me." AJ looked at him as Punk ran his hands through his hair, "So I walked. Because Thea was my main priority, my girls were my main priority." She made clear.

"You still could have told me about it." Punk said, "And then maybe I would have understood why she didn't wanna see me." He said, "And we could have talked about it."

"No, because then you'd spend the next however many years in prison, wondering if Thea was still using, blaming yourself for it… I knew you already hated yourself enough without putting that on you." She said, "So I never told you."

"You damn well should have." Punk shook his head angrily.

"Phil, don't." AJ warned.

"She blames me." Punk nodded as AJ looked at him, "I'm the reason this happened."

"You're not." AJ said, "Who is to say that if you were there, it still might have happened." AJ said, "She got involved with the wrong people and it took over her life. You can't blame yourself. It's not gonna help." She shook her head.

"Who'd she get it from?" Punk asked angrily.

"Don't worry, I asked her, I was ready to go fight but… she got it off some person at school who knew a person." AJ shrugged, "And every time I tried to get through to her, plead with her to stop, she'd just throw it in my face that… this was what we used to do to people." AJ nodded, "And that fucking sucked." AJ shook her head as Punk sighed to himself.

He really couldn't believe it. He always knew that it was a difficult time for all of them, particularly himself, AJ and Thea, because it was all very real, but to think that it affected his daughter so much that she turned to substances for help, when he should have been there to help, it tore him to pieces.

"There probably is something else you should know." AJ sighed. She figured whilst she was here, delivering all the bad news, she may as well have added to it.

"What?" Punk dreaded, taking a deep breath.

"She's been dating Jackson." AJ nodded as Punk looked across at her, "Since she was sixteen. At first I… I was ready to just put a stop to it but then I saw that she actually smiled around him, and she had fun and I'd missed seeing that." She shook her head, "So…"

"So what?" Punk looked at her.

"So they dated, and they have been ever since-"

"You're kidding me." Punk shook his head, "Please tell me you're joking." Punk said.

"I'm not joking." AJ said.

"So she knows that-"

"No. I never told her it was Jackson, and he never did either. I talked to him about it-"

"You let him into our house?!" Punk interrupted, "You let him get close to Thea, knowing that all along… he was the reason I was in prison?"

"What was I supposed to do, Phil? I didn't want to tell Thea, because then she'd beat her own self up, and she's been through enough, don't you think?" AJ shook her head, "They stayed close friends and then… I guess it just happened. I didn't want to ruin something good for Thea."

"So he's been in a relationship with her and he's been lying to her the entire time?" Punk questioned.

"I spoke to him about it all and he… he wishes he could take it back, especially after he saw how badly Thea was affected-"

"Well that's great. I'm glad he wishes that but look where we are now." Punk said, "Damage is fucking done, clearly."

"You would have done the same thing if you were in my shoes-"

"No." Punk said angrily, "No, I would have made sure that boy was as far away as possible from Thea." He said, "He was probably the one supplying her with drugs."

"It wasn't him." AJ shook her head.

"I can't believe this." Punk ran his hands over his face.

"She thinks that it was just some other supplier that dropped you in it. She doesn't know it was Jackson, and she doesn't need to know, there's no need." AJ said, "She's happy with him… for… for the most part."

"What does that mean?" Punk questioned.

"Well they're sort of broken up right now." AJ nodded, "But they do this all the time." AJ rolled her eyes as Punk sighed to himself.

"April, you should have told me about all of this. About Thea, about Thea and Jackson. I was just a visit away-"

"I was a little busy keeping our daughter off drugs." AJ said, "You have no idea how hard it was, how heart-breaking it was to watch our little girl just throw her life away." She shook her head, "She didn't care. That was the scary part. She didn't care if it ruined her life. Because she felt like it was already ruined. Because of…" AJ paused as Punk looked at her.

"Go on." Punk encouraged, "Finish your sentence." He nodded.

"Because of you." AJ mumbled as Punk nodded.

"Because of me." Punk nodded to himself.

"It's no one's fault, Phil." AJ shook her head.

"It's very clearly my fault." Punk said, "And I know you think it too."

"I really don't." AJ promised, "I don't blame you. At the time, maybe it crossed my mind, but that's because I was angry and worried, so worried about our baby." She shook her head as he looked at her, "But it could have happened anyway. It's drugs, right? You try it once and then… you're lost in it all." She said, "It's nobody's fault."

"She blames me." Punk nodded. It was hard not to blame himself, because it was his departure that caused Thea to struggle so much, and that made him feel even worse knowing how she handled things, what things she turned to.

"I don't think she blames you." AJ sighed.

"You could have told me." Punk shook his head. He was trying to think of ways he could have helped more. Just like AJ did when it was going on. It was just a natural instinct to wish to have been there to help her, "If you told me then I could have understood and maybe we could have had a phone call if she didn't wanna see me, or I could have wrote to her about it."

"I don't think you realise how bad she was." AJ shook her head, "She couldn't walk upstairs never mind… read a letter." AJ said.

"You still could have told me-"

"I was going to, and you pushed me away. Took all your anger out on me." AJ said.

"You know I was just mad, I didn't mean that." Punk said.

"At the time you did." AJ said.

"I still had a right to know what was going on with my daughter, April. And you should have told me about Jackson. What happens when Thea finds out one day? What if it sends her into a relapse? This is why I didn't want you to tell her." He said, "And now she's dating the boy?"

"Not everything is my fault, Phil." AJ said.

"I didn't say it was-"

"You don't have to." AJ said, "Every time something goes wrong, or the girls say something to you, I'm the one who gets it. I'm the one you blame." She stood up as Punk watched her.

"There's no one I blame more than myself." Punk said, "I needed you and you walked away. You all walked away. My brother didn't even come see me anymore."

"Did you ever think that maybe it was because it was hurting us all?" AJ stood by the door, looking at him.

"Oh, because it wasn't hurting me?" Punk questioned.

"I didn't come here to fight with you." AJ rolled her eyes.

"Then go." Punk shook his head, "Just get out." He nodded as AJ turned around and walked out of the kitchen, collecting her purse and leaving the house as Punk sat at the kitchen table, grabbing one of the coffee mugs and throwing it against the wall as he stood up, placing his hands in his hair, feeling his heart beating rapidly.

All he could think about was Thea, and how he wasn't there for her when she was feeling this low, when she was struggling this much. He blamed himself.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys! Still more flashbacks to come. **


	40. Time

**Time**

* * *

"_Mom." Jude ran downstairs just as AJ got home from work. She was barely in the door before hearing her name being called._

"_Hi, baby." AJ smiled tiredly._

"_Mom, Thea is sick." Jude said worriedly as AJ looked at her._

"_What?" AJ panicked, throwing her keys over into the pot at the doorway, running up the stairs and bursting into the Thea's bedroom where she saw her daughter lying down on the floor, shivering, "Thea." AJ ran over to her._

_Weeks had gone by of Thea in and out of rehab facilities, counselling groups and any other drug addiction help programs that AJ could convince her to go to, but any time she seemed to be making a small recovery, she took five huge steps back._

"_Thea, what happened?" AJ asked. She could see her daughter had thrown up in her room, and her entire body was shaking, as if she was having a seizure. _

_Jude stood at the door watching with worry, "I called Dee." Jude said quietly as AJ nodded._

"_Go downstairs, Jude." AJ nodded frantically as Jude ran away._

"_I'm… I'm f-fine." Thea shivered, attempting to sit up but she physically couldn't. To AJ, it looked like her body was shutting down and she was absolutely terrified._

"_No, baby. You're not fine." AJ shook her head frantically, "We have to take you to hospital, ok?" She stood up, getting ready to lift Thea as best she could, when she heard the front door open, loud footsteps running up the stairs as Dean burst into the room._

"_Shit." Dean looked at the room, watching Thea shivering on the floor as AJ looked at him._

"_She needs to go to hospital right now." AJ said as Dean nodded._

"_Ok, kiddo." Dean sighed, picking Thea up from the floor and carrying her out of the bedroom. It was a sight truly heart-breaking, seeing his niece self-inflict so much pain on herself, "Renee is here, she'll keep an eye on Jude and Cass." Dean told AJ who nodded._

"_Ok, quickly." AJ said frantically as Dean carried Thea out into the car, both of them leaving to take her to the hospital. It was the unknown that terrified them._

_They got to the hospital quickly, Dean lifted her out and she was taken right away whilst AJ and Dean were told to stay in the waiting room._

"_What the fuck did she take?" Dean questioned angrily, "Girl is a skeleton."_

"_Don't ask me that as if I knew she would." AJ spat at him, pacing up and down in the waiting room as Dean sighed to himself, rubbing his face._

"_Come sit down." Dean nodded to her AJ shook her head, "Sit, you're making me feel dizzy." He said, takin her hand and bringing her over to him where she sat down beside him._

"_There was nothing in the house." AJ said, "I check every morning." She turned to him as Dean nodded, "Dean, she was doing good. She'd been doing really good."_

"_I know she was." Dean sighed, "That's the fucking evil of drugs, takes one second for… hard work to be undone. But… takes a lifetime to feel clean." He nodded as AJ sighed._

"_I am just… constantly worried." AJ shook her head, "Literally, all the time. Even when she has good days. I just worry so much. Ask myself if it's gonna last?"_

"_She's a tough girl, but… it's a serious thing." Dean said, "She's not gonna overcome this in a few weeks. Odds are, she's always gonna struggle with it. She needs to get out of this rehab stage, so she can start actually healing." He said as AJ nodded._

"_Do you think this is my fault?" AJ asked him, "Did I let her get like this? I'm her mother, I should… I should have been protecting her from things like this-"_

"_April, this is not your fault." Dean said, "It's no one's fault." He shook his head, "It's fucking drugs. Once they get to you, it's there, constantly." He nodded, "Thea's in a battle with her own self, no one else." He said._

"_But why did she turn to drugs? Why didn't she talk to me?" AJ shook her head helplessly._

"_It happens." Dean said, "Yeah, that's a pretty cold thing to say but it does. She probably did it once and… felt amazing, so she did it again, and now we're here." Dean nodded, "That's how drugs work."_

"_She's never been the same. Not since Phil left." AJ said, "She's so shut off. So distant."_

"_She lost her dad." Dean said, "And he was a good fucking dad." Dean shook his head as AJ nodded, "You talked to him?"_

"_I'm not… no. Last time I talked to him he tore me to shreds and blamed me for pretty much everything so…" AJ shrugged, "I got more shit on my mind right now."_

"_You know he didn't mean that. Thea just told him she didn't wanna see him again. And he's trapped in a cell for twenty three hours a day." Dean said. _

"_Don't make me feel bad." AJ said, "I don't know what more I can do for Thea. I can't trap her in the house, she just gets irritated, but I don't trust her to go out."_

"_She's not gonna be going anywhere in the state she's in anyway." Dean shook his head, "April, you're doing everything you can. You've been amazing. She's so lucky she has you." Dean nodded to her. For her to doubt her actions throughout this entire thing was ridiculous. He knew she had been working around the clock to help her daughter in any way possible. _

"_It's almost been a year of this. She's gonna…" She bit her tongue, "She's gonna wind up dead." AJ placed her hands over her face as Dean sighed._

"_Come on, don't let your mind go there." Dean shook his head, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her in for a hug._

_It was a horrible thing, for all of them, Thea especially. Right now it all felt hopeless._

"_Miss Mendez?" A doctor eventually approached AJ and Dean as AJ sat up._

"_Yeah? Is she ok?" AJ and Dean stood up._

"_She's stable." The doctor said as AJ nodded. Right now, that was good news, "She does have cocaine in her system." He said as AJ sighed to herself, "So we've got her on some fluids, keeping her hydrated-"_

"_She had thrown up a lot." Dean said._

"_Common with cocaine addicts. Her insides are constantly taking a beating every time she takes it." The doctor nodded. There was no way to be subtle about it. AJ understood that._

_He spoke to them for a little while about Thea's current state, before they headed into the room to go see her. AJ had never saw her look so dreadful, and it actually scared Dean. _

"_Hi, baby." AJ sighed, trying not to cry, walking over to the bed and wrapping her arms around Thea who was awake, but barely able to move, with so little energy._

_She didn't say anything, she just let her mother hug her. She was still pretty out of it, not really knowing what was going on, in and out of consciousness. She just couldn't help like her body wasn't even hers anymore. _

"_Mom's here." AJ whispered, kissing her head as Dean watched with a sigh. _

* * *

"Mom?" Dean called, walking into his mother's house, "Phil?" He called out, closing the door behind him as he walked through the house, finding his brother in the kitchen, sitting at the table whilst he noticed a smash coffee cup all over the floor.

"Slip of the hand." Punk mumbled as Dean looked over at him.

"What the hell happened here?" Dean asked, "You ok?" He asked, picking up the pieces of smashed mug everywhere.

"I don't think so." Punk admitted as Dean looked up, sitting the broken mug over by the sink, "April was over." He said, "Told me about Thea." He nodded to himself as Dean sighed, running his hand through his hair.

"Hey, man. I-"

"Do you remember when she used to do my hair?" Punk asked as Dean looked at him, "She'd tie it up before I went to work. Every morning." He smiled to himself, "She had to have been like three or something." He chuckled.

"Yeah, I remember." Dean smiled.

"That kid can't be twenty-one." Punk scoffed, "I got no life to show for that."

"I know this sucks, dude." Dean sighed, sitting down across from him, "It sucks for everyone." He shook his head, "For you, for AJ, for Thea… all of us." He nodded.

"I should have been here." Punk shook his head.

"Maybe but… it's not like you chose to go away. No one's holding it against you. Thea might seem like she is but… she's got problems with herself, not you. She's gotta learn to heal on her own so that she can then fix what she has with you." Dean nodded.

"Were you around when it was happening?" Punk asked him as Dean nodded.

"Yeah, I was there." Dean nodded, "And I won't lie to you, she was bad." Dean nodded, "And God bless April, because she didn't give up. If anything, she's the reason Thea got through everything." He said, "I had to carry her to hospital one time." Dean said as Punk closed his eyes, "That's nothing you could have helped. No one can help that. It's a process. There's no instant cure."

"If I was here, she wouldn't have turned to that shit." Punk shook his head.

"You don't know that, and there's no point in thinking like that. The blame game isn't gonna help anyone here." Dean said as Punk looked at him, "This is why I didn't come see you."

"Why?" Punk questioned.

"Because I couldn't handle not telling you." Dean said, "Because I knew if that was me in prison, and that was Chrissy who was going through all that shit, I'd want you coming and telling me about it."

"So why the fuck didn't you?" Punk questioned.

"April thought it would hurt you, which obviously it would but… she thought you'd blame yourself and she didn't want that. Just like you didn't want Thea to know it was her boyfriend who ratted you out." Dean said, "You know what would really help us all? You and Thea talking about this shit." Dean suggested.

"Yeah well April says she's not gonna do that." Punk said, "Seems like she's hitting a wall again. And I can't even do shit to help now that I'm out, because I lost so much time with her."

"You'll get that time back." Dean nodded, "I didn't stop coming to see you because I didn't wanna see you. It was killing me to see you in there and… then everything with Thea, I didn't wanna go talk to you and lie to you, tell you everything was fine when it was far from it." He said as Punk just nodded.

"I'm not mad at you." Punk assured him, "If anything I'm just mad at myself."

"You can't do that either." Dean said, "It is what it is, you gotta just pick up your life now, somehow." Dean nodded.

"Somehow." Punk mumbled to himself, running both hands over his hair and groaning loudly, "How the hell did she end up dating Jackson?" He groaned as Dean chuckled a little.

"You're just mad she's dating full stop." Dean nodded as Punk shook his head.

"Any guy in the entire world, but not him. Literally." Punk shook his head, "I fear she finds out he sent me down, using her help without her knowing, and then she… what if she starts using again? What if it's too much?"

"First rule of drug addict rehabilitation, never speak it back into existence." Dean nodded.

"You went?" Punk questioned.

"Yeah, I went to the counselling thing with her a few times. AJ did too. Sam. Renee. Jackson." Dean nodded, "She wasn't alone, man." Dean assured him as Punk nodded.

"I just don't want her to be in pain." Punk shook his head, "Especially not because of me."

"None of us wanna see her in pain." Dean said, "She's got support, she's got family, and she's tough." He nodded, "Like you." He encouraged as Punk sighed, "It's gonna get easier with time, buddy." He nodded, "For all of us."


	41. In and Out

**In and Out**

* * *

"You told him?!" Thea asked angrily, sitting on her bed with her blanket wrapped around her.

"Yes, Thea. I told him. Because I knew you wouldn't. And he deserves to know." AJ said.

"He deserves nothing." Thea replied, "I don't owe him an explanation-"

"He cares about you and loves you. I owe him the explanation as your mother. He deserves to know what's been going on with you. And it's… you shouldn't be ashamed of it."

"It's not for you to tell people." Thea said angrily.

"You were never going to tell him, and maybe he'd be able to understand why you're so distant with him, why you stopped visiting him. Thea he's not a monster." AJ shook her head.

She understood her daughter had a difficult time, but she had to separate her addictions and the issues with her father into two separate issues.

"You shouldn't have told him." Thea shook her head.

"Thea, you were so close to him." AJ sighed, "I know things changed and… and it was horrible but, he's still the same guy you grew up loving. That hasn't changed." AJ said.

"I didn't grow up with him." Thea said, "That's the problem." She sighed, rubbing her head tiredly.

"Well he's worried about you, if it makes a difference. Obviously it… it broke his heart to hear what happened-"

"Oh, poor him." Thea scoffed, getting up from bed, shaking her blanket off.

"Where are you going?" AJ asked worriedly.

Of course, living with Thea after her addiction, it did questions the trust she had with her daughter, and she was constantly on edge with worry. It never really left her.

"I'm going to make dinner." Thea said, "Am I allowed to do that?" She asked as AJ made a face at her, "You wanna go tell dad I'm making dinner? Report to him my every move?"

"You're being childish." AJ rolled her eyes. Raising three daughters, she was used to the sarcasm and snarky attitude that Punk had gave all three of them.

"Wasn't fair that you told him." Thea said, "Without even telling me."

"Yeah, well he needed to know, Thea." AJ said seriously, "He's your dad, nothing you can do or say to him is going to stop him from loving you, or caring about you." She nodded, "Just… give him a break." She sighed.

In a way, she was just tired of all the talk. All the talk about Punk, all the conflict.

"You've changed your tune." Thea said, "Couple years ago you didn't want anything to do with him."

"Yeah well time goes by and you move on, Thea. It's life." AJ shook her head, "I was mad at your father for how he spoke to me. That was between me and him. I never, ever doubted the love he had for you and your sisters." AJ said, "And I never will." She made clear, walking out of the bedroom as Thea folded her arms and sighed to herself.

* * *

"_Hi, Thea." A nurse walked into the hospital room where Thea was being kept in. AJ was spending pretty much every night with her daughter, up until she fell asleep. It was heart-breaking seeing her daughter so weak and hurt._

_The hospital was silent, just the sound of machinery bleeping from different rooms could be heard as it fell into deep night time._

"_Hey." Thea smiled softly. She was sitting up in bed watching TV with AJ._

"_You fancy some dinner?" The nurse smiled as Thea nodded. _

_As a young, scared teen, she was overwhelmed by the kindness and decency of all the doctors and nurses that were around her during this extremely difficult time. As well as her mother who never left her side._

"_Yeah, I'm kinda hungry." Thea nodded as AJ smiled, glad to hear that of course._

"_We got some soup or some mac and cheese?" The nurse nodded as Thea groaned a little._

"_I can't uber a pizza to here, can I?" Thea asked as AJ chuckled._

"_We try not let patients do that, no." The nurse smiled._

"_I'll have some soup." Thea said as the nurse nodded, leaving the room as AJ turned to Thea, "I couldn't think of anything worse than hospital mac and cheese." Thea fake gagged as AJ smiled._

"_Yeah, I'm with you on that one." AJ admitted, "How you feeling? It's good you have an appetite." She said positively. _

"_Yeah, it's the first I've felt hungry." Thea nodded as AJ smiled, brushing Thea's hair behind her ear._

_For the first few days in hospital, Thea had just slept. She was still hooked to fluids to keep her hydrated. Over the past day or so, she appeared to be a lot brighter, sitting up more and having more conversations._

"_I brought you some more pyjamas." AJ said, standing up and pulling the pyjamas out the bag, "I thought you'd like these ones." She showed her the pyjamas which had tacos on them with faces._

"_You thought I'd like them or… you really like them?" Thea asked as AJ shrugged._

"_Both." AJ nodded, "There's some candy in here too, Jude picked some of your favourites." She smiled, sitting the bag down beside Thea's bed._

"_How are they?" Thea asked, playing with her hands. She was very aware of the emotional stress that this was causing her family. And she hated herself for that. Waking up through the night and seeing her mother sleeping on the hospital chair beside her, in a way, proved that she really only trusted her. Her father wasn't even in the equation anymore._

"_They're fine." AJ smiled, "They miss you. Can't wait to have you home." She nodded._

"_I'm gonna get kicked out of school." Thea nodded._

"_I've spoken with your school." AJ nodded, "They're gonna let you resit everything next year. Let you sit out the rest of this school year to get better." She said as Thea nodded slowly._

"_I've made such a mess of my life." Thea whispered as AJ shook her head._

"_Baby, you're still young. You've… you've hit a wall. Most of us do. Not just with drugs, it can be hard… growing up." She nodded, "And these past few years haven't been kind to us." She said, "You're gonna beat this, and get through it." She nodded, "There's help out there. And we'll do this together." _

"_You're not the drug addict." Thea scoffed, "I'm not dragging everyone down with me."_

"_It's not dragging us down." AJ shook her head, "We're a team. And we get through this together. Us girls gotta stick together." She nodded, "You aren't alone in this." She shook her head as Thea nodded. _

"_Here you go, Thea." The nurse came back in with a tray, sitting it down on the stand for Thea, "There was some leftover cake too. You don't have to eat it if you're not that hungry." The nurse assured her._

"_My mom will eat it if I don't." Thea pointed as the nurse smiled._

"_She's probably right." AJ admitted._

"_Enjoy." The nurse nodded, leaving the room whilst Thea sat up to have the soup._

"_Smells good." AJ smiled, watching as Thea took her spoon, her hand shaking as she tried to get a spoonful of the soup. She was also getting extremely bad tremors in her hands._

"_Try your other hand." AJ encouraged, trying not to make it a big deal as Thea tried her other hand, which was shaking just the same._

_Thea watched her hand shaking, terrified of how her body was reacting to the abuse she had inflicted on herself. It was enough to make her cry and drop her spoon with frustration._

"_Hey, it's ok." AJ sighed, pushing the tray over as Thea rolled her head back on the pillow, "Come here." AJ said, leaning over and wrapping her arms around Thea as she cried, "I know." AJ soothed, brushing her hand down the side of her head, "It's gonna be ok." AJ sighed._

_She'd been through some tough times in her life. Struggles. Helpless situations. But this right here was the hardest._

* * *

"What'd you make?" Jude asked, walking into the kitchen where her older sister had finished cooking dinner and was cleaning up the mess she'd made. She was a very messy person, in regards to everything, but always tidied up after herself.

"Chicken parm." Thea said, "Help yourself."

"Where is mom?" Jude asked, "Cass needs her soccer kit washed for her game tomorrow."

"Well give me it in and I'll wash it." Thea nodded. She did have a lot of motherly instincts when it came to her sisters. Through her problems with addiction, she never stopped being their sister. And she also thought it was important to help their mother out with the cleaning and cooking. She'd done so much for them, so much for her, that it was just instinct to repay her with little things like this.

"Are you gonna go?" Jude asked.

"To Cassie's soccer game?" Thea questioned as Jude nodded, "Of course, why wouldn't I?"

"Well… dad is going." Jude said as Thea paused.

"Why?" Thea questioned.

"Because Cassie got him a ticket." Jude said as Thea nodded slowly.

"Well… maybe I'll sit this one out." Thea nodded to herself.

"You're crazy if you think you're gonna avoid him all our life." Jude said, helping herself to the dinner Thea had made, "I mean, he's in my life, he's gonna be in Cassie's… you're just being awkward." Jude shook her head as Thea ignored her.

Jude knew about her sister's drug problem in the past. She didn't at the time, but growing into an older teen herself, she was aware of how badly her sister was affected, and how much her addiction took over her life. It was enough to scare her away from all of it, for sure.

"Just go get me Cassie's kit." Thea told her as Jude walked away with her dinner, collecting Cassie's soccer kit and throwing it into the kitchen for Thea to wash.

Thea put the kit into the wash and packed Jude and Cassie's lunch for tomorrow to put in the fridge, when there was a knock at the door. In simple terms, she was distracting herself from everything on her mind.

She left the kitchen, walking down to the front door and opening it up, pausing when she saw her father standing, immediately hiding behind the door. For some reason, him knowing about what she'd gone through, made her feel more exposed.

"H-Hey." Punk looked across at Thea. She had taco pyjamas on, her hair in a messy bun with glasses on. He didn't look at her differently after finding out about what happened whilst he was gone. She was and always would be, his little girl.

"Hi." Thea said quickly, "What do you want?" She said.

"I uh… I actually wanted to speak to your mom." Punk nodded. He could see she wasn't near ready for him to talk to her about what he'd found out, and so he didn't put her in that uncomfortable position. She looked uncomfortable enough.

"She's showering." Thea said.

"Dad?" Jude walked out of the living room, having heard her father's voice, "Hey." Jude smiled, stepping out and giving her a hug as Punk hugged her back tightly.

Meanwhile Thea watched them hugging, slowly backing away from the door and escaping upstairs as Punk sighed.

"How are you?" Punk smiled, kissing Thea on the head.

"I'm fine." Jude smiled, "Why are you here?" She asked him.

"I actually wanted to talk to your mom if she's around." Punk said, "But if not-"

"Mom!" Jude called as Punk raised his brows, "Come in, don't stand outside." Jude scoffed, "The evil wicked witch has gone upstairs." Jude shook her head as Punk tutted.

"Don't be mean." Punk said as Jude shrugged.

"What is it?" AJ scoffed, running downstairs in just her underwear. The upside of living with her three daughters.

"Mom." Jude cringed and rolled her eyes.

"Oh my God!" AJ exclaimed, running back upstairs as Punk raised his brows and turned around, not knowing what to do with himself.

"I can come back." Punk called upstairs, cringing to himself.

"No, just give me a second." AJ said, running around her bedroom frantically.

Punk groaned to himself, pausing as he stood at the doorway. This still felt like his home. That was the tough part. He still remembered moving into this place, when Thea was just three years old, when things were looking up for them, when all their hard work had paid off.

"Hey, I'm sorry about that." AJ shook her head, running back downstairs with her sweats and a t-shirt on, "Thanks for the heads up." She pinched Jude who chuckled and wandered away back to her dinner.

"Sorry, I should have said I was here." Punk said.

"No, don't be ridiculous." AJ shook her head.

"I came to apologise." Punk nodded, "For getting at you earlier. You, out of everyone, I shouldn't be mad at." He sighed, "I was just… I was shocked and upset about… what you told me." He said, "I'm still trying to process it all."

"Yeah, I… I figured that anyway." AJ nodded to him, "It's ok."

"It's not. I shouldn't have turned it around on you. I couldn't imagine what it was like for you, seeing her like that. I mean, just imagining it for me is heart-breaking but…" He sighed, running his hand through his hair.

She never for one second thought he actually blamed her. He was just highly emotional right now. They all were.

"It's ok." AJ nodded.

"How is she doing?" Punk asked.

"She's ok." AJ said, "Told me she's going to college tomorrow so… that's always a positive." She nodded, "I know you wanna help and do something, say something to her… you just gotta give her some time." She said as Punk nodded.

"Dad?" Cassie came out of the living room.

"Hey, you." Punk smiled.

"Are you coming to my game tomorrow?" Cassie asked curiously.

"You bet I am." Punk said, "I can't wait to see you kick some butt."

"I always kick butt." Cassie nodded as AJ smiled. Seeing Cassie with Punk was something that filled her heart up so much.

"Go finish your dinner." AJ laughed, tapping her on the back as Cassie laughed and walked away back into the living room, "She's like you." AJ nodded to him.

"You think?" Punk smiled as AJ nodded. At the end of the day, they were still parents to three incredible daughters.

"I'll see you tomorrow." AJ nodded to him.

"Yeah." Punk smiled, "Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow." He nodded, "Goodnight." He said, leaving the house as AJ smiled, closing the door behind him. She appreciated the apology, even though she understood how heightened his emotions had to have been.

Punk walked down the steps from the house, sighing to himself as he walked ahead, pausing when he saw Jackson walking towards the house. He definitely wasn't that little kid he remembered. That little kid he secretly cursed every night in his prison cell.

Jackson stared at Punk, both of them looking at one another for an awkwardly long time, not saying anything. He then walked by him, deliberately pushing himself past Punk slowly, getting a little too close as Punk glared at him.

Jackson pushed by him as Punk turned and watched him walk into the house, closing the door behind him as Punk stood outside looking on.


	42. Caught

**Caught**

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Thea groaned, lying in her bed watching TV as she saw Jackson walk into her bedroom.

"Why was your dad here?" Jackson asked wearily.

"Talking to my mom." Thea said, looking over at her TV, "I'm not in the mood to argue with you." She shook her head.

She didn't know where she stood with Jackson at the minute. At the back of her mind she also feared telling him that she'd slept with someone else. Even if they were broken up, she still felt guilty, especially given the circumstances of it, possibly ruining a marriage in the process. She had enough on her mind without getting into it with him again.

"Look, I came over to apologise." Jackson said, walking over and sitting down on her bed as Thea looked at him, resting her cheek on her hand, playing with her blanket, "I know you got a ton on your mind right now and I shouldn't have gone off on you. I was just worried about you drinking and I probably didn't… come across as well as I wanted to."

"You came across as a prick." Thea nodded, "If we're being honest." She said as Jackson nodded.

"Yeah, I agree." Jackson nodded, "I was just worried."

"Yeah, everyone's always worried about me." Thea nodded, "Must be exhausting just knowing me." She shook her head.

"Don't feel sorry for yourself." Jackson scoffed as Thea looked at him, "Come on, it was a dumb fight-"

"I'm fed up of fighting." Thea said, "I don't need it, I'm over it."

"Me too." Jackson nodded, "I'm sorry." He nodded, "Truly. I just… I care about you so much and I don't wanna see you hurting. Seeing your dad back here just… just pissed me off. He doesn't even know what you went through."

"He does, actually. My mom told him." Thea shook her head, "Said he deserves to know."

"Doesn't deserve anything." Jackson shook his head, "You concentrate on you right now. Do what is best for you." He nodded, placing his hand on her leg, "Cute pj's." He noticed as Thea looked at him, trying hard not to smile.

"What? You've never saw tacos with faces before?" Thea questioned.

"Pretty sure that's only something I'd see you wearing." Jackson nodded.

"What's that supposed to be mean?" Thea scoffed.

"Means you're a dork." Jackson smiled, tickling up her legs as Thea laughed, squealing as he mounted her, messing around with each other as Thea chuckled.

* * *

"What are you smiling about?" AJ asked, making herself a coffee later that night, watching Thea walking into the kitchen, "Jackson still up there?" She questioned.

"Mhm." Thea nodded as AJ looked at her, "We… talked it out." She smiled.

"Shocker." AJ nodded as Thea scoffed, "So you told him about the married guy?" AJ assumed, stirring her coffee.

"Uh… no, not quite." Thea said as AJ turned to her.

"Well… you gotta tell him, Thea." AJ said.

"We were broken up." Thea shrugged. But she knew within herself, she had to tell him.

"That doesn't matter. You were broken up for like a day. He deserves to know." AJ said as Thea sighed to herself.

"I just… I need some time to think about what I'm gonna say, that's all." Thea nodded.

"Well you better tell him." AJ warned as Thea nodded, "You're coming to Cassie's soccer game tomorrow, right?" She assumed.

"Well I… I'm not sure. Dad is going so-"

"So you're gonna let your little sister down?" AJ asked angrily, "Being in his presence isn't going to do you any harm. Stand on the opposite side of the field as him if it helps. Don't let your sisters get caught up in this war you have with him." She shook her head as Thea sighed.

"I can't just shake it all off. I'm not you. People deal with things differently." Thea shook her head.

"Baby, I haven't shaken anything off, believe me." AJ said, "But I know when things have to move on, when we have to move on." She said, "You're doing so good. You have been for the past couple years. And you worked so hard… don't let this undo all of that hard work." AJ shook her head as Thea sighed, "You're gonna go to college tomorrow, come home, go to Cassie's soccer game, and then we'll get ice-cream after like we always do." AJ nodded as Thea nodded with her.

"Ok." Thea nodded quietly.

"Ok." AJ repeated, "What are you down here for?" She questioned.

"Just a soda." Thea said as AJ nodded.

"Ok, I am… gonna go fall asleep on the couch watching the rest of my UFO documentary." She nodded, leaving the kitchen as Thea sighed to herself. There was a lot on her mind for sure.

* * *

The next day, Punk was excited to be at Cassie's soccer game. He could put all of the drama on hold for this moment and just relish the fact he was out, in the fresh air, watching his littlest girl have the time of her life doing something she had fun with.

Jude accompanied him whilst AJ stood with Thea a little further away.

"She's speedy." Punk chuckled, watching Cassie's every movement as she ran up and down the field. He loved watching her have so much fun. Watching that type of energy was exhilarating for him, and it made time stop, as if he was in a dream.

"She is." Jude chuckled to herself, "She goes in for slide tackles all the damn time too." She nodded.

"That's my girl." Punk whispered to himself and nodded, "She been talking about me?" He asked Jude.

"You sound so high school." Jude chuckled, "But yeah, she has actually. It's dad this and dad that." She nodded as Punk smiled. That felt good to hear, obviously, "I knew you guys would be fine." Jude nodded to herself.

"I'm looking at going for this apartment." Punk said, "But I need your opinion on it first. It's two bedroom so… you and Cass would need to share if… if you wanna come stay with me. If you don't then… that's ok too but-"

"I'd love to see it." Jude smiled happily, "That's exciting." Jude said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, well it's also a relief. I don't know how much more Sam I can take." He said as Jude laughed a little, "And if Thea ever wants to come stay, I can get a pull-out couch or something." He nodded to himself, "Wishful thinking I know." He shook his head as Jude sighed.

"Honestly. Half the time I don't think Thea's issues are with you. They're with her own damn self." Jude shook her head.

"I just don't know what else I could do. She won't even let me talk to her." He sighed.

"Just give her time. She has been through a lot." Jude nodded, "Go Cassie!" Jude yelled, clapping for her little sister as Punk smiled, giving her a loud whistle as Cassie threw up the rock and roll sign to them, which had Punk grinning so big.

"She's good." Punk smiled as Jude nodded, "How'd she learn how to play?"

"She just joined a club at school and turns out she was pretty good at it." Jude nodded, "Been doing it ever since." She said, turning to Punk who was looking over at where AJ and Thea were standing, "I think she will come around." Jude admitted.

"Do you really think so?" Punk asked her as Jude nodded.

"Yeah, she's just being stubborn." Jude nodded, "She has missed you, whether she wants to admit it or not."

"She also resents me and hates me for not being here for her." Punk sighed, "Which I understand."

"The biggest war she's in right now isn't with you. It's with herself. Once she gets over that and figures that out, she'll be able to start letting you in again." Jude nodded as Punk sighed to himself.

Meanwhile AJ and Thea were standing a little further away watching the game.

"She's so cute in that little soccer outfit." Thea smiled. It felt good to get out of the house and get some fresh air. She'd also successfully completed a full day at college which she felt good about. Her time in rehab definitely taught her that little tiny steps still deserved the same reward and pride, and she was taking little steps to get herself out of the wobbly place she was in for a few days.

"She's so damn good." AJ smiled proudly. Any time she got to see her daughter's do something great, she beamed with pride. She loved it any time Cassie looked over and waved to them. It was just a good feeling seeing her baby having so much fun, and an even better feeling knowing that Punk could see this too. It still felt surreal for him to be here, after so many years away.

"So I thought about it." Thea said, "I'm seeing Jackson tonight so I'm gonna tell him."

"It's important you do. Broken up or not, just… don't have lies or secrets." AJ nodded, "And God, don't sleep with any married men again." AJ tutted with disappointment as Thea groaned, looking down at the grass.

"I'm just scared he'll flip out." Thea said.

"Well, he might but given what's been going on-"

"Am I really going to blame that on dad?" Thea questioned.

"Well you blame everything else on him. Why not toss in adultery in while we're at it?" AJ asked.

"Hey." Thea laughed a little, "Don't be mean." She nudged her mother who smiled.

"If it leads to another break up, you guys need to figure out if all of this breaking up and getting back together is even worth it." AJ nodded.

She didn't interfere with her daughter's relationship, but that didn't mean she didn't have an opinion on it. At times she felt like her daughter deserved better, not just because Jackson basically put Punk in prison, but because sometimes she caught him saying or doing things that weren't particularly respectful. She wouldn't say it to her daughter, but she believed Thea deserved better.

"It is worth it." Thea scoffed, "I'm happy when I'm with him." She said.

Thea suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder, turning around and receiving a hard hitting punch on the face as she fell down onto the grass. AJ immediately turned around with shock and confusion.

"What the hell?!" AJ spat angrily.

Meanwhile Punk had ran over, obviously seeing the commotion, worried that something was wrong.

"Who the hell are you?" Thea stood up, ready to fight back as AJ grabbed her back.

"What's going on?" Punk ran over.

"You slept with my husband!" The woman spat angrily as Thea looked across at her.

For all things to come out of the women's mouth, Punk wasn't bargaining on it being that.

"W-What?" Thea looked across at her.

"My daughter told me. Saw you leaving our house one morning." The woman said, clearly in a rage as she was entitled to be, "That feel good, huh? Wrecking a home?" She spat angrily as Thea looked at her, wiping the blood from her nose, "You're nothing but a cheap little slut." She spat, grabbing Thea around the neck as Punk immediately pulled the woman back.

"Get out of here!" AJ yelled angrily as the woman looked at them.

"Go on." Punk narrowed his brows at her, standing in front of AJ and Thea as the woman backed up and stormed away.

He shook his head, turning around and looking across at Thea who was maintaining her bloody nose.

"Let me see." AJ sighed.

"It's fine." Thea rolled her eyes, wiping her nose.

"Are you ok?" Punk sighed.

"I'm fine." Thea said with frustration, pushing by them both and walking away whilst Punk turned to AJ.

"What the hell was that?" Punk shook his head as AJ ran her hands through her hair and shook her head.


	43. Keeping It Together

**Keeping It Together**

* * *

"Thea." AJ called, walking into their house later that night after the soccer game. Punk offered to take Jude and Cassie for ice-cream so AJ could go home and check on Thea. He didn't ask what the hell just happened with the very angry woman attacking Thea. He heard what he heard and he figured he'd just keep his questions for now to himself.

"Thea." AJ sighed, walking upstairs and into Thea's bedroom where she was sat on her bed wiping her nose, "Hey." AJ said softly, standing at the door.

"The good news is, it's not broken." Thea nodded, looking in the small mirror she had sitting on her bed, taken from the bathroom, "But there was a lot of blood."

"I don't think your nose is the thing that's hurting you right now." AJ nodded as Thea looked over at her.

"Hey, what did I expect?" Thea shrugged, "If I was in her shoes I'd wanna beat me too." She nodded.

"She had no right to punch you, though. Or call you names. Her husband is the one who cheated on her. You didn't even know-"

"Please, I saw his wedding ring and was too drunk to care." Thea shook her head as AJ sighed, "And now I have to tell Jackson and he's gonna be just as mad." She predicted.

"You don't know that." AJ said, walking further into the room, sitting down on the bed, "If anyone has been here and been with you through everything, it's him." AJ nodded, "He has an act for understanding you."

"Yeah but he also has self-respect. What does that say about me? How I've treated him." Thea said.

"It's been a difficult time for you." AJ said.

"Don't make excuses for me." Thea made clear.

"Oh, honey I'm not." AJ assured her, "What you did was wrong. It was stupid and unfair. Selfish." She nodded, "I could go on and on." She said, "But it was a mistake." She nodded.

"He stuck by me through everything." Thea shook her head, "I mean he's been my best friend since I was thirteen. I don't… I don't deserve him." She sighed.

"You deserve to be happy." AJ nodded, "And you will be." She assured her.

"Where are Jude and Cassie?" Thea wondered.

"Your dad took them for ice-cream. He was worried about you." AJ nodded.

"Worried about my nose or worried that his daughter grew up to be a homewrecker." Thea shrugged.

"He's worried about you in general." AJ said, "I just… I wish you would just talk to him. Tell him things you tell me. Tell him what's on your mind and how you feel-"

"I want no relationship with him." Thea made clear, "So no, I don't want to talk to him."

"Don't you think that the pain you felt when you lost him… might start to go away if you spoke to him?" AJ asked. All she could do was advise. Her daughter was a grown woman and she couldn't make her do anything.

"It feels worse when I speak to him." Thea rolled her eyes, "I just want to carry on with my life." She said as AJ nodded.

"Is Jackson coming over?" AJ asked him.

"Yeah." Thea took a deep breath, "Yeah, I have to tell him." She shrugged as AJ nodded.

"I'll be downstairs." AJ assured her, "Let me see that nose." She tilted her daughter's chin up to take a better look, "Still beautiful." AJ said as Thea smiled.

* * *

"I love ice-cream." Cassie smiled, sitting in a café with Punk and Jude after she'd finished her soccer game. She was still in her adorable little soccer strip, and Punk was the proudest papa in the world.

"Yeah I bet you worked yourself up an appetite." Punk smiled.

"I did." Cassie agreed, "Did you like watching me?" She smiled. It was fun for Cassie to bring her father into her world, show him things she liked and took part in. She enjoyed the excitement she got from it.

"I did. You were super speedy." Punk nodded.

"I was." Cassie agreed.

"When is your next game?" Jude asked her.

"I'm not sure I'll have to ask mom." Cassie shrugged as Punk smiled.

In the back of his mind, he was of course thinking about Thea and if she was ok. He just wished he could have helped her, he wished he could have at least got the chance to talk to her. It was difficult for him to accept her pushing him away. She was always his baby girl, and he wouldn't give up trying.

"Cassie, dad is gonna move into a new place so we can go stay with him." Jude told her sister as Cassie raised her brows.

"I get a room?" Cassie smiled.

"Well, you'll have to share with your sister." Punk said, "But we can decorate it up real nice. Maybe Jude can paint some things on the walls." He nodded to Jude who smiled.

"And does Thea have a room?" Cassie asked, eating of her ice-cream, which was covering a lot of her mouth.

"I uh…" Punk wasn't really sure what to say.

"There will be a pull-out bed for Thea if she decides to stay." Jude answered for Punk.

"Oh." Cassie nodded, "Why didn't Thea come for ice-cream? Her favourite is the chocolate brownie sundae." She said as Punk smiled. He knew that was Thea's favourite.

"She went home with mom." Jude said, "I don't think she's feeling very good." Jude shrugged.

"Oh, poor Thea." Cassie frowned as Punk nodded, "I need to use the bathroom." She announced, sliding out of the booth and heading away to use the bathroom.

"I hope you don't feel bad about what's going on with Thea." Jude said, sitting across from her father.

"I can't really help it." Punk told her truthfully.

"But it's not your fault. You didn't bail on us or choose to leave." Jude said, "She's just going through her own shit right now." She shook her head.

"Did she really…" Punk paused, not sure if he really wanted to know, "That woman who punched her…"

"Did she really sleep with her husband? Yes." Jude nodded as Punk looked down at his ice-cream, moving it around like a child playing with their food.

"I thought she was with Jackson." Punk said.

"Well they were broken up but now they're back together." Jude rolled her eyes, "They break-up all the time." She said as Punk nodded.

"When did they start dating?" Punk asked curiously.

"When Thea was like fifteen or something." Jude shrugged.

"Is he always at the house?" Punk asked.

"Most nights, yeah." Jude nodded, "He's a good guy." Jude said as Punk nodded slowly, "Mom doesn't like him, though."

"Why not?" Punk asked.

"Well, she's never said she doesn't like him but I know she doesn't." Jude said, "I can see whenever she looks at him. And she rarely talks to him." Jude said, "But to be fair, he was really there for Thea."

"Yeah, so I hear." Punk nodded, "He ever said anything about me?" He asked.

His biggest fear was Thea finding out about Jackson's involvement with his imprisonment. Because the things Jackson used to get him arrested, were things Thea told him without even realising it was her own father. He didn't know what she'd do if she found out this information, especially now that she clearly had a more important relationship with Jackson.

"Why would he say anything about you?" Jude scoffed, "He just knows you were in prison, that's all." Jude said as Punk nodded.

"If he makes her happy." Punk shrugged.

"I think he does, for the most part. When she's not out sleeping with married men." Jude rolled her eyes as Punk groaned, "Worst part is, I don't think she even remembers it."

"Ok, we don't gotta talk about it." Punk nodded, feeling extremely uncomfortable obviously.

"Sure." Jude nodded as Cassie came back to the table.

"I almost fell asleep on the toilet." Cassie said tiredly, jumping back into the booth as Punk chuckled a little, "My legs are tired."

"I bet." Punk smiled, "We'll finish up and I'll walk you girls home." He smiled.

Focusing on the good was so important for him, especially in contrast with all the bad and all the worrying. He was just overjoyed with the fact he even got to sit and have ice-cream with his youngest daughters, considering he'd spent eight years of his life in a prison cell, missing moments like these.

* * *

"Maybe you'll work it out. Give him a couple of days." AJ whispered, lying in her bed later that night where Thea had made her way into. After telling Jackson about the married man, he pretty much emphasised they were over and stormed out.

"It's my own fault." Thea said, resting her head on the pillow. She felt emotionally drained.

"It's not." AJ said, "You made a mistake." She nodded, "If I had to sit here and tell you all the times I made a mistake, we'd be here forever." She smiled as Thea smiled softly.

"What are your biggest mistakes?" Thea asked as AJ thought to herself, "Besides the obvious." She shook her head.

"I used to steal." AJ nodded, "I would get on the L and I would take things from people's bags, purses." She said, "We needed the money but after it I would… I would hate myself so much." She said, "Stuff like that stays with you. It doesn't go away. It gets better but… it doesn't go away." She shook her head.

"If you never met dad, do you think your life would be different?" Thea asked.

"I don't think about it." AJ said, "Because… I wouldn't change a thing." She nodded, "You can paint him as this terrible, useless father." She nodded, tucking Thea's hair behind her ear, "If it makes it easier for you." She nodded, "But we both know that's not how you really feel." She shook her head as Thea looked at her.

"I don't want to lose Jackson." Thea shook her head, "He's always been here for me." Thea said, a tear running down her cheek.

"I know he has." AJ sighed, "Give him some time to come around, maybe then you can have a better conversation."

"Do you think I wrecked that family?" Thea whispered, "They might… they might work it out, right?" She nodded as AJ looked across at her.

"I don't know, baby. It's… it's not really your concern right now. I know it's gonna be on your mind but… you didn't know what you were getting into." She shook her head as Thea nodded, wiping her tears and taking a deep breath, "I think it's time you focus on you. Concentrate on your college work. Maybe you could… go back to counselling." She said as Thea rolled her eyes.

"No thanks." Thea shook her head.

"I'd come with you." AJ nodded, "If it helps you, don't be afraid to do it." She said as Thea sighed.

"I don't even know what I'm doing with my life." Thea sighed, "I'm studying medicine and I don't even know what the hell I want to do with it."

"Not everyone studies medicine, Thea. You're so bright and you have… your entire life right in front of you. You'll decide what you want to do, you'll figure it out." AJ smiled, cupping Thea's cheek softly, "You got this." She nodded as Thea smiled.

"I wouldn't have anything if it wasn't for you." Thea said. There was no one else in the world she could lie with and cry to at 2am. No one but her mom.

"You did the work." AJ said, "And you're gonna be fine. We'll get through this together." She nodded as Thea smiled tiredly, beginning to fall asleep as AJ watched her, stroking her cheek softly.

* * *

"This apartment?" Sam asked, looking at the apartment listings with Punk.

"Yeah, what do you think?" Punk asked her as Sam nodded.

"It's nice." Sam nodded, "You fed up of me?" She asked, taking the paper and hitting his head.

"Yeah, I am." Punk scoffed, "You and your five hundred cigarettes a day." He shook his head.

"Boy you'd be out in the streets if it weren't for me." Sam scoffed.

"I know." Punk nodded, "I know. I do appreciate this." He assured her as she nodded, "It's more for the girls, so they can come stay with me more." He nodded.

"Thea messaged me earlier, said she got smacked at Cassie's soccer game. You see it?" Sam asked curiously.

"Yeah." Punk shook his head.

"Yeah well that's what happens when you go around touching things that don't belong to you." Sam shook her head.

"Mom." Punk screwed his face up, "Don't… talk about my daughter like that." Punk shook his head.

"Nothing I wouldn't say to her face." Sam scoffed, "Her own worst enemy. Always has been." She shook her head.

"I just wish she'd talk to me." Punk shook his head, "Just sit me down and tell me how she feels. Even if it's gonna hurt me, I just wanna hear what's going on in her head." He sighed.

"I'm sure soon if, she'll talk to you." Sam nodded, listening as there was a knock at the door, "You get it, I need a cigarette." She waved her hand, wandering away to the kitchen as Punk stood up from the sofa and wandered out into the hallway.

He opened up the door, pausing when he saw Jackson standing, looking rather mad.

"We need to talk." Jackson spat, walking into the house as Punk raised his eyebrows at the boldness of this young boy, watching him storm away into the living room as Punk slowly closed the door over behind him. He knew this probably wasn't going to go down well.


	44. Push

**Push**

* * *

"She was doing fine." Jackson said as Punk walked into the living room, "She was doing good. Finally." He said as Punk looked at him, "You had to come back and ruin it all. I mean… you leaving hurt her and now you coming back is hurting her just as much. You're the problem."

"Yeah and we all know why I had to leave." Punk glared at him, "I missed eight years of my daughter's lives. All three of them. Because of you." He said, "I got told not to play the blame game, but you put me in this situation." He made clear as Jackson looked across at him.

"Yeah and maybe I felt bad about that." Jackson nodded, "After I saw how hurt Thea was-"

"Did you think for a second she wouldn't?" Punk shook his head, "You were her best friend, right? You thought you'd do that to your best friend? Change her whole life?" He questioned.

"I didn't see it like that back then." Jackson said.

"What happens one day when she finds out it was you?" Punk asked, "You ever thought about that? I mean… I could have told her. I didn't because I didn't want to hurt her anymore than she already was." He said.

"How good of you." Jackson nodded.

"I don't know who the hell you think you are, but just because you're dating Thea doesn't mean I gotta be nice to you." Punk made clear.

"You were the reason I was taking drugs. People like you. People like you are the reason your daughter ended up taking shit-" He barely got to finish his sentence before Punk grabbed him.

"Now is not the time to push me." Punk warned him, getting in his face as Jackson looked at him, "You had no idea what was going on back then."

"I didn't have to." Jackson spat, pushing him away and stepping back, "I knew enough. And yeah, after it I felt bad because Thea was so hurt, and she started using and drinking but… but then she got better, and she was happy." Jackson said, "And now she's… it's like she's falling back down that slope again and it's because of you."

"What's going on between me and Thea is none of your damn business." Punk spat, "You stuck your nose where it didn't belong and I ended up in prison for eight years. I never got to see Cassie being born. I never got to hold her. I didn't get to see Thea graduate high school. I never got to see Jude start high school." Punk said, "I never wanted to get into it with you, but if we're being honest here, you ruined my fucking life, kid." Punk nodded as Jackson looked at him.

"No… you ruined your fucking life when you decided to be a drug dealer when you were younger. That type of shit follows you." Jackson said, "You know when you went to prison, and Marina skipped town… my mom got clean for the first time. She actually got clean and she has been ever since." Jackson nodded.

"I was never doing it because I wanted to." Punk shook his head.

"Yeah, I know the story. Thea told me. You didn't have a choice." Jackson shrugged, "Whatever… you could have done something." He nodded, "You could have tried harder to fix it-"

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Punk shook his head.

He always tried his best not to stay mad at Jackson. At the time he had to remember that he was just a scared kid, but things were different now. So much different.

"You should have stayed gone." Jackson spat, "She was doing good."

"There is no one who hates me more than myself, at everything I've put Thea through, all the pain I caused her when I left." Punk said, "So you can say whatever mean shit to me, odds are I've already said it to myself." He said, "And I've had to live with those feelings for eight years, in a small prison cell where hours feel like years." He spat.

"She never wants to speak to you again." Jackson said, "That isn't just a phase. She really feels that way."

"I know my daughter-"

"No. You don't." Jackson shook his head, "You don't know her. You've not been here."

"Because of you!" Punk yelled angrily, "Don't throw that in my face. Tell me I haven't been here when you were the one who put me away." Punk spat.

"They were gonna get you anyway. I just helped them out a bit." Jackson shook his head.

"What is going on between me and Thea has nothing to do with you quite frankly." Punk shook his head, "I don't know why you're even here? Why are you getting mad at me?" He shook his head, looking across at him.

"We just broke up." Jackson said.

"Well from what I hear, you guys do that a lot. Wouldn't worry about it." Punk shook his head.

"She slept with some other guy." Jackson said as Punk looked at him.

"If you wanna talk about that, go to your friends, not me." Punk advised.

"This was your fault." Jackson spat.

"Everything is my fault." Punk nodded sarcastically.

"Thea in her right mind wouldn't ever do something like that. She's not like that." Jackson said.

"I haven't even spoken to her properly yet, I'm not doing anything wrong." Punk said, "Her and that guy isn't my concern or my problem, maybe it's yours, but it's not mine. I'm just focused on being there for my daughter's, after missing eight years of all their lives." He spat.

"You could have told her." Jackson said, "When you'd gone to prison and she was visiting you. You could have said it was me." Jackson nodded as Punk looked at him, "Why didn't you?" He asked.

Punk looked at the young boy, shaking his head and rubbing his face tiredly. He knew Jackson wasn't a bad kid or a bad person in that respect. And judging by tonight, he could see that he was hurting from the break up.

"I didn't want to hurt her any more than I already had." Punk said, "And I thought…" He paused, "I thought she could use a friend at that time." Punk nodded as Jackson looked across at him.

"If you really care about her… you'd leave her alone." Jackson nodded, stepping closer.

"I have left her alone." Punk assured him.

"You'd leave her alone for good and let her live her life." Jackson said.

"I'll never give up on my kids." Punk said, "I don't know who you think you are, playing the tough guy, but don't push me." He warned, "Because I will push you back." He made clear, staring at Jackson with more intensity. He wasn't playing games. Not when so much of his life had been taken from him.

"You're the problem." Jackson shook his head, "You're the problem in all of this." He stepped back, walking off out of the house as Punk shook his head, running his hands over his hair.

"What was that about?" Sam walked into the living room.

"Like you weren't listening in." Punk shook his head, "That kid has a fucking death wish."

"I've never really liked him." Sam admitted as Punk sat down on the couch, "Don't let him get into your head." Sam advised as Punk sighed to himself.

* * *

"_Hi, Miss Mendez." Jackson bowed his head as AJ walked into the kitchen tiredly._

"_It's April." AJ looked at him, "Be quiet when you go upstairs. My three year old has had an ear infection and she's finally sleeping." AJ said bluntly, walking over to the fridge to finally prepare herself something to eat, even if it was past 10pm._

"_Sure, of course." Jackson nodded._

_AJ was aware that her daughter wasn't just friends with this boy anymore. She knew these things. Part of her had sizzling blood when she saw Jackson in their house. She felt like it was the biggest slap on the face to her husband, and it rubbed her the wrong way that the boy who had broken up their family, was now in a relationship with her daughter. _

_For the most part she tried to avoid him. She could see that Jackson made Thea happy. He made her laugh and smile, which was important at this time due to how shut off Thea had been. _

"_April, I hope you're ok with me… me and Thea-"_

"_Sweetie, I'm not ok with it." AJ shook her head._

"_I do… I feel bad for what I did, after seeing Thea change so much and… shut herself off-"_

"_What did you expect?" AJ asked._

"_I… honestly, I didn't think he… well he was dealing drugs, I wasn't sure if he was close to you guys or-"_

"_He's their father." AJ shook her head with confusion, "Look, the only reason I'm letting you in this house, letting you near my daughter, is because she's happy with you and that's the most important thing to me right now." AJ nodded, "She deserves to smile and laugh, and have fun." AJ nodded._

"_That's all I care about." Jackson promised as AJ nodded._

"_Good." AJ said, "Because if you hurt her…" AJ said, chopping the tops off of some carrots, the sound of the knife crunching through the carrot and through to the board alarming Jackson as he watched, "If you hurt her, I will hurt you." AJ made clear as Jackson gulped._

"_I-I won't." Jackson shook his head as AJ nodded._

_Of course she wasn't ok with this, especially when her and Punk had agreed not to tell Thea it was Jackson who got him arrested in the first place. Them dating was a pretty bad outcome in terms of keeping that secret. But her daughter's happiness came above everything. _

"_Me and Phil agreed not to tell her that it was you who went to the cops." AJ said, "Phil doesn't want her to know that any information that she told you, unknowingly got him imprisoned." She said, "He doesn't want to hurt her." She said as Jackson nodded._

"_I wouldn't want to hurt her either." Jackson agreed as AJ nodded, watching him leave the kitchen as she continued chopping her carrots aggressively._


	45. Hard Going

**Hard Going**

* * *

"_Ape." Punk called, walking into their small apartment one day after work. He could hear loud music coming from the living room, so that was where he headed first._

_He walked towards the living room, pausing at the doorway as he watched three year old Thea standing at the coffee table with a cloth and spray, pretending she was cleaning it whilst dancing. He was both impressed and alarmed by her dance moves, and laughed to himself when he heard her laughing to herself whenever she shook her butt deliberately. The best part was, she didn't know anyone was even watching her._

_Punk crept away from the living room, smiling to himself as he walked into the bedroom where AJ had just came out of the shower._

"_So you're aware Thea is in there dancing and cleaning?" Punk asked her as AJ nodded._

"_Yeah, totally aware." AJ said, greeting him hello with a kiss, "I said to her this morning, what do you wanna do today, Thea? Mommy has a day off from work." She told him, "And she said she wanted to clean." AJ shrugged._

"_I'm a little concerned with the dance moves, I gotta say." Punk nodded._

"_Girl can bust a move." AJ nodded, "She's been in there all morning and afternoon." She chuckled as Punk laughed to himself._

"_Did you pick out the music?" Punk asked, noticing it was some sort of Spanish dance music playing._

"_No, she did actually." AJ said, "I figured I'd take up the offer to have someone cleaning for me all day." AJ shrugged._

"_She's not really cleaning to be honest." Punk laughed._

"_Yeah, I figured she wasn't." AJ nodded, "How was work?" She asked, tidying up the bathroom in their room._

"_It was ok. Glad I got an early day today. Feel like I haven't seen you all week." He admitted, pulling her over to him by her hand as she smiled, "I miss my April time." He said, wrapping his arms around her waist as she laughed a little._

"_I specifically remember giving you April time in the kitchen last night." AJ raised a brow as Punk nodded with a smile._

"_I know but I'm greedy." He said, kissing her neck and toppling onto the bed with her as AJ laughed._

"_Phil." AJ giggled as Punk smiled. He loved that laugh._

"_Hey!" Thea called at the bedroom door, making her presence known as she walked in with her spray bottle and her cleaning cloth._

"_Hey, Cinderella." Punk smiled, sitting up on the bed as AJ smiled._

"_Daddy I've cleaned all day." Thea giggled, waving her cleaning cloth around as she ran over to Punk who picked her up and sat her on his knee._

"_Cleaned and danced?" Punk said as Thea nodded, dancing a little with her shoulders as Punk and AJ chuckled. She was gonna be trouble for sure._

"_I like this music." Thea giggled as Punk nodded._

"_Yeah, we can see that." Punk nodded, watching her spin her cleaning cloth around. She was the light in absolutely everything. She was the reason they were doing everything they could to save their money and make a better life for themselves, because they wanted their baby to have the best. _

_There was never a dull moment with Thea around, she was the brightness and spirit in their lives._

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Thea sighed, watching as Jackson appeared walking down the street towards her. She was outside cleaning her car, trying to take her mind off of everything that was going on.

"I thought we could talk." Jackson nodded.

"I didn't think you'd wanna talk." Thea said, dropping the sponge in the bucket and folding her arms.

"Of course I wanna talk." Jackson shook his head, "Look, I know you're going through a tough time right now. I just… I wish you would turn to me instead of alcohol and… married men." He groaned as Thea rolled her eyes.

"It was one ridiculous night." Thea concluded, "I'm fine. I'm doing better. I have… I have counselling tomorrow night." She shrugged.

"You're going back?" Jackson asked.

"Yeah, my mom thinks it's a good idea." Thea nodded, "I do too. Better going there than a club." She said as Jackson nodded.

"Yeah, I agree on that one." Jackson said, "I know… I know we were broken up, I'm not… I'm not accusing you of cheating." He sighed.

"You were last night." Thea said, "Said to me it was practically cheating." She shrugged.

"I was just hurt last night when you told me." Jackson said, "Especially because you were doing so good-"

"I hate when people say that. As if I'm some timebomb waiting to go off." Thea shook her head.

"It's a good thing." Jackson said, "You worked hard and you were… you were smiling again." He smiled, "Your dad coming back has just… it's wobbled you a little but I know you, you're tough." He nodded.

"I didn't have to hurt you in the process of it all, though. It's my shit, I shouldn't be bringing everyone else down with me." Thea shook her head, "It's not fair on you, it's not fair on my mom or my sisters."

"Hey, me and you are a team." Jackson nodded, "I just want you to be happy, and I want to be there to help you get back on the right path again. Because I know you can." He said as Thea looked at him.

"But I hurt you." Thea shook her head with confusion.

"You didn't mean to, and we'd broken up, had an ugly fight." Jackson said, "You got a lot on your mind right now and… we shouldn't be pushing each other away because of it." He said as she looked across at him.

He'd always been her best friend before anything else. He'd been there for her at dark times in her life, just like her mother, and that was something she couldn't replace. She just felt guilty for what she'd done, no matter if he said he could overlook it or not.

"I don't deserve you." Thea shook her head, looking down at the ground.

"Don't say that." Jackson shook his head, "Don't shrink yourself." He said, taking her hand in his, "I'm with you in this. You gotta do you. Forget about everything else." He nodded as she smiled softly.

"You're the best." Thea smiled, looking up at him.

"Wrong. You are." Jackson smiled, pressing her against the car and kissing her softly as Thea wrapped her arms around him, kissing him a little more deeply until Jackson felt a ball smack off his head as they both broke apart.

"Slipped out my hand." Punk stood from afar as Thea looked over with narrowed brows.

He had come over to pick Jude up and wasn't a fan of seeing his daughter pressed against a car during a make-out session. So he found a soccer ball in the garden and… politely kicked it over, aiming for Jackson's head of course.

"Fucking idiot." Jackson massaged the back of his head as Punk just smiled over to them.

Thea shook her head, grabbing Jackson by the face and pulling him down for another kiss, taking his hands and putting them on her ass deliberately as Punk scoffed and rolled his eyes, turning away, thankful that Jude was making her way out of the house.

"Thank God, let's get away from here." Punk shook his head as Jude looked over.

"Hey!" Jude yelled as Thea and Jackson broke apart, "That break-up might have been your shortest record thus far." She said, kicking the ball back in their direction as Punk smiled.

"Where the hell are you going?" Thea questioned.

"To look at dad's new apartment." Jude nodded, "Mom and Cassie will be home soon." She said, walking away with her father as Thea watched, folding her arms.

"You want to finish washing this car?" Jackson asked her as Thea scoffed.

"I have an empty house and you wanna wash my car?" Thea questioned, walking away into her house as Jackson chuckled and followed.

* * *

"This is super nice." Jude nodded, looking around the apartment which Punk was hopeful to be getting soon.

"It's got a ton of space." Punk said with surprise, walking around the kitchen. Of course it saddened him that things weren't how they used to be like before he went to prison, where he got to live with the people he loved, share a bed with his wife and sit down as a family every night.

"Obviously me and Cassie get the bigger room." Jude smirked as Punk chuckled and nodded.

"I guess so." Punk said, walking into one of the bedrooms where Jude was, "You reckon you could paint something up on these walls?" He asked.

"You kidding? This is a dream." Jude smiled.

"Are Thea and Jackson really back together?" Punk questioned.

"Looked like it." Jude said, "Trust me, you'll get used to this." She shook her head.

"It's gotta be unhealthy, though." Punk shook his head.

"Yeah, because Thea is knowing for doing healthy things." Jude looked at him as Punk sighed, "I'm sick of talking about her." She admitted bluntly.

"I just wanted to know-"

"You could just focus on the daughters who actually want to spend time with you." Jude nodded, standing in the empty room with him.

"Jude, come on… that's not fair." Punk shook his head.

"It's not fair, you're right. It's always about Thea." Jude shook her head, "Even when you were gone, it was always about her. If she was clean, if she was using, if she was going to school, if she was breaking up with Jackson… I thought you being back would get me away from all of that shit."

"Hey, come on… don't get mad with me, I'm just trying to get through to her." Punk said, "I can't just give up."

"Well she gave up on you a long time ago." Jude shook her head, "I'm sick of everything being about her." She said, walking out of the room.

"Jude." Punk sighed, walking out after her, "I'm just worried about her, that's all." Punk said as Jude looked at him, "I've just found out all of this information. I've been shut off from all of it, and it's pretty tough. You're… you're used to it, you got to be there for her and help her… I didn't, and that's tough on me right now." He nodded as Jude looked at him.

"You can spend your entire life proving yourself to her." Jude said.

"I know that, babe but I gotta try." Punk nodded, "You were little when I left. I mean do you… do you even remember me going away?" He asked her truthfully. He got the feeling that all Jude really knew was a life with him in prison.

"I… I just remember you being in prison." Jude shrugged as Punk nodded.

"Thea doesn't." Punk said, "I mean I got put away when she was pretty much your age." He said as Jude realised how difficult that must have been, "I know it sucks right now and things are all over the place, but I need your help. You're the one that's kept me going." He smiled as Jude looked at him, "I'm learning all the shit I need to know from you." He said as Jude smiled softly.

"Well someone has to tell you." Jude said modestly.

"I know your sister's had problems and maybe that's put you on the back seat a few times, but I love you girls equally the same, I'm just… I'm still trying to figure all of this out." He admitted as Jude nodded.

"Yeah, I know." Jude sighed.

"You hungry?" Punk asked her as Jude nodded, "You wanna go for pizza?" He asked as Jude smiled and nodded.

"Yeah." Jude smiled as Punk nodded, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and kissing her head.

"Hopefully I can get this place, I really like it." Punk said, leaving the apartment with her.

"Yeah, me too." She smiled.


	46. Birthday

**Birthday**

* * *

"So for my birthday next week I want us all to go out." Jude nodded, sitting down in the empty room in her father's new apartment with him, eating a pizza with him.

"Me you and Cass?" Punk assumed, taking another slice of pizza whilst sitting on the floor. He'd just gotten the keys and Jude was helping him move some things in.

"No, everyone. Me, you, both my sisters, mom, Sam, Uncle Dean and Renee, Chrissy and Sarah." Jude nodded.

"Yeah, I… I don't think that's gonna happen." Punk shook his head.

"You can sit at the opposite side of the table as Thea." Jude shook her head.

"I can see you the day after or before." Punk assured her.

"No, no this is the first birthday I've had since you got out and I want you there, with everyone." Jude said.

"Have you talked to your mom about this?" Punk asked her as Jude took her cap off and sat it down beside her.

"I asked her and she said it was a nice idea but… don't be disappointed if it doesn't happen." Jude shrugged.

"You can go out, I'll just see you the next day. It's fine." Punk assured her.

"No, it's not. I want you there. You're family." Jude said, "I still haven't decided where I wanna go yet." She admitted.

"Have you told Thea about it?" Punk asked.

"No, not yet." Jude said, "But it's my birthday. I'll do what I want." She shrugged, "Thea's actually been doing pretty good. She's back at counselling and she's been going to college regularly again." She shrugged.

"I'm glad to hear it." Punk nodded, "Baby of course I want to spend your birthday with you, I just don't want anything to ruin your day, any atmosphere."

"It won't." Jude shook her head, "All that matters to me is that you're all there." She nodded as Punk smiled.

He wanted nothing more than to spend his daughter's birthday with her, on that day, because he missed so many, but he also didn't want any sort of atmosphere to ruin it between himself and Thea.

"I'll be there." Punk nodded, "Gotta tell me where we're going, though. So I can get my order ready." He smiled.

"I don't know where I wanna go." Jude admitted, "Leave it with me and I'll get back to you." She said as he smiled.

* * *

"No frickin way." Thea shook her head, standing in her bedroom folding up her laundry.

"It's not your birthday and it's not about you." Jude said, "I want him there, and that's how it's gonna be." She made clear.

"Then I'll just see you after." Thea shrugged, "Me and you can go somewhere the next day. I'll drive-"

"No, I want you there with everybody." Jude said, "I guess you can bring Jackson too." She said, "And if you gotta sit at opposite sides of the table from dad then so be it but I want everyone there." She made clear.

"Jude I just don't want any sort of atmosphere to ruin anything." Thea said honestly.

"Yeah, well he said the exact same thing. Maybe if you could just put your differences aside, for one night." Jude said, "I'm not asking for much." She shook her head as Thea sighed, "Or you can make it all about you, like you always do."

"What?" Thea shook her head.

"Nothing." Jude said, "You're coming and that's the end of it."

"What do you mean like I always do?" Thea looked over at her.

"Well you could just do this one thing for me. You know, be selfless and not think about your own feelings." Jude advised as Thea looked across at her, "I just want one birthday with everyone, with dad finally back." She said, "So be there." She warned her sister, "Or I'll fight you." She said, leaving the room as Thea continued to fold her laundry up, a little more aggressively.

Jude made her way downstairs, wandering into the living room where she saw her mother sitting.

"So everyone is going out for my birthday." Jude smiled happily, sitting down beside her mother.

"You spoke to Thea about it?" AJ asked her.

"Yeah. I'm not giving her a choice." Jude shrugged, "And dad said he'll be there too. So I just gotta tell Uncle Dean and Sam."

"You picked where you wanna go yet?" AJ smiled.

"No, I'm still thinking." Jude nodded.

"As long as this is what you want to do, baby." AJ said, brushing Jude's hair out of her face, "And it's how you really wanna spend your birthday."

"It is." Jude nodded, "Dad has missed so much, I want him there on my birthday." Jude said as AJ smiled.

"I bet he really appreciates that." AJ nodded, "How is he?" She asked casually. She wasn't in denial about it. She was still curious about him, what he was doing and how he was feeling.

"He's ok. I think he's a little relieved he's got his own place now. Sam was driving him crazy." Jude said.

"Yeah, I couldn't live with Sam." AJ scoffed, "Is the apartment nice?" She asked.

"It is. It's got a ton of room. Mine and Cassie's room is really big." Jude smiled.

"Does this mean I'm gonna start getting dumped?" AJ frowned as Jude turned to her.

"No, I'll never dump you." Jude said as AJ smiled, "You'll still have the wicked witch upstairs to keep you company."

"Stop." AJ scoffed as Jude shrugged, "I'm happy that you're happy." AJ smiled, "Always." She nodded. It was the most important thing.

"Are you happy?" Jude questioned as AJ looked at her.

"Yeah, I'm doing ok." AJ smiled tiredly as Jude gave her a hug which AJ appreciated.

"What are you watching?" Jude asked, curling up with her mother as she flicked the channels to find something they could watch.

* * *

The next week came around where Jude was celebrating her fifteenth birthday. She'd picked a steakhouse to go to, and was more so excited to see her father on her birthday for the first time in eight years, without it being through a prison visit.

Punk was last to arrive, which was a little awkward for him, not that he let it get to him of course.

"Hey, happy birthday." Punk smiled, wrapping his arms around Jude tightly, kissing her head as Jude hugged him back tightly.

"I'm so glad you're here." Jude said truthfully. It was the best gift she could have gotten.

"Me too." Punk smiled, "Here, this is for you." He handed her a gift bag, "You can open it later." He said as she smiled and nodded.

"I saved you a seat." Jude pointed to the seat beside her, which was ironically across from AJ who gave him a polite smile as he acknowledged her.

He said hello to everyone, getting a massive hug from Cassie which was great, but of course he got no acknowledgment from Thea who was laughing at the top of the table with her boyfriend.

"Good choice. I could smell this place from six blocks away I swear." Punk said, sitting down beside Jude.

"We came last year for mom's birthday and it was really good." Jude nodded, "You clean up nice." She said as Punk chuckled.

"Well, since it was your birthday." Punk said, taking a menu, looking over it discreetly to AJ who was talking to Renee beside her. She was still as beautiful as he thought she was the first time he laid eyes on her. Sitting right across from her at dinner had flooding memories pouring back into his mind. To be at dinner with his entire family really was overwhelming.

"I'm thinking steak." Dean nodded to himself whilst Punk spoke to his two nieces a little across the table.

"Am I the only one who finds it ridiculous that everyone is acting like nothing even happened?" Thea asked, sitting across from Jackson.

"You're here for your sister." Jackson reminded her.

"I know that, but it's just so strange. Even my mom." Thea said, "Like… are we all forgetting what he did?" She shook her head as Jackson looked across at her.

She wasn't sure if it was the nerves of being so close to her father for a long period of time, or just seeing him, but she just felt like she needed to protect herself and her feelings. Keeping his mistakes alive was what kept her from remembering the dad she loved and adored, the dad that deep down, she knew he still was.

"What you having to eat?" Jackson asked her, trying to keep her mind off of things.

"He keeps eyeing my mom up." Thea scoffed, looking over at her dad who was actually in conversation with her mother.

"I'm thinking steak." Jackson shrugged as Thea sighed a little.

"Excuse me." Thea said to a passing waiter, "Do you have a wine list?" She asked as Jackson looked across at her.

"I'll bring one to you." The waiter nodded, walking away as Thea smiled.

"You're kidding, right?" Jackson looked at her, "Don't ruin this."

"What? I can have one glass." Thea laughed to herself.

"No, that's the thing. You can't have one glass. You end up having two bottles." Jackson said, "You've been doing good, I know it's tough seeing him here but this is something you gotta get through, without alcohol. He's in your sister's lives, that means you're gonna have to see him sometimes." Jackson made clear as Thea looked across at him, her hands shaking a little.

"The wine list, miss." The waiter appeared back to the table, extending the list to Thea who looked at it.

"I… I changed my mind." Thea shook her head, "I'm ok with water." She smiled politely as the waiter nodded, walking away as Jackson smiled to her, reaching over and taking her hand as Thea took a deep breath to herself.

* * *

The night went on and everyone seemed to be having a good time respectively, with a lot of good food to help conversation go down well.

For AJ, it was really strange to be sat across from her husband in a restaurant after all this time. Things she didn't even think about happening anymore, because they'd lost so much. To see him smiling warmed her heart, and she knew that was because she still cared.

"How is the apartment coming along?" AJ asked him.

"A little slow." Punk nodded, "Kinda feels like it did the time we moved into our apartment." He said as AJ smiled, "Gonna take a while to build things up, but Jude agreed to decorating all of the walls so-"

"Hey, I'm not doing all of the walls." Jude chuckled as AJ smiled, "I'm doing mine and Cassie's room, that's all I agreed to." She said as Punk smiled.

"I figured I could get more out of you." Punk shrugged.

"She's going to do unicorns on one of the walls for me." Cassie said, sitting beside her mother as AJ nodded.

"Unicorns, huh?" AJ smiled.

"I said I'd try, I'm not promising anything." Jude made clear, looking on at her mother and father. It felt very strange to have them both in the same place at the same time, but very good, something she could only describe as feeling right.

"I'm sure it'll look amazing. You'll have to take pictures to let me see." AJ nodded.

"You can… come over and have a look." Punk laughed a little.

"Well…" AJ shrugged awkwardly.

"So I can't open my present until I get home?" Jude asked her father.

"Yeah, wait until you're back home." Punk shrugged as Jude smiled and nodded.

"I am super glad you're here. It's the best present ever." Jude told him truthfully as Punk smiled, kissing her head whilst Thea looked over at them, leaning back on her chair.

"Hey, can I just say something?" Thea said loudly to get everybody's attention as they looked up at her, "I just wanna say happy birthday to my little sister." She smiled as Jude looked over at her, "I mean… I can't believe you're fifteen. I remember when you were little, and… dad used to sign hey jude to you and you'd freak out." Thea smiled as Punk looked over at her, "And then dad went to prison for eight years and look at that… he's back. Time… time does fly." She nodded, looking at Punk who just stared at her coldly.

"Ok, that's enough." Jackson advised.

"Whilst we're on the subject of dad." Thea continued.

"Wrap it." AJ gritted her teeth, looking over at Thea who ignored her.

"I just wanna say how amazing we all are at forgetting. We're like elephants, aren't we?" She nodded, "Eight years of bullshit and we're all one happy family again."

"Thea, it's your sister's birthday." Punk said calmly.

"Stop talking." Jackson shook his head to Thea.

"It is my sister's birthday. My sister, who I've been here for. Who I always intend to be here for." Thea made clear, staring at Punk, "I wouldn't risk anything if it meant losing her. You did." She spat.

"Thea, give it a rest." Dean called.

"Shut up." Thea spat as AJ widened her eyes, looking down the table as she saw an empty bottle of wine, turning to Jackson who had a helpless look in his eyes.

"What did you just say to me?" Dean stood up.

"Dean, sit down." Renee advised.

"You are all fools." Thea smiled, "And when the time comes that we wave bye to him, when he's back in prison when he gets forced to deal drugs." She scoffed, making speech marks with her fingers when she said the word forced, "I will be there to greet you all with a smile." She nodded, lifting her glass of wine, "Happy birthday Jude." Thea nodded, swigging the full glass of wine over as Punk watched.

AJ got up from her seat, walking down the table and grabbing Thea by the arm, "Get up." AJ gritted her teeth, grabbing Thea off of the chair and pulling her out of the restaurant as Punk ran his hand over his hair.

"I gotta… go to the bathroom." Jude stood up.

"Don't… don't listen to her." Punk shook his head as Jude walked away quickly.

"What was Thea saying?" Cassie looked across at Punk.

"Nothing, babe." Punk smiled softly.

"Can you pass me the ketchup, please?" Cassie asked as Punk nodded.

"Here you go." Punk passed the ketchup over to her, looking over to his mother who just gave him a reassuring nod, but it was hard to feel reassured after that.


	47. No Way

**No Way**

* * *

"What the hell are you playing at?!" AJ yelled after pulling Thea outside the restaurant, "Why are you drinking?"

"I just had a couple." Thea shrugged.

"You've drank a full bottle." AJ spat, "This is your sister's birthday. She just wanted one dinner. One dinner with everyone." She shook her head, "Was that so hard for you?"

"I just don't know why we're playing happy family." Thea threw her hands up in the air, "And you… talking to him like nothing ever happened. Talking to him at all-"

"I have three children with him, Thea. What do you expect me to do? Never talk to him again?" AJ spat, "You're being childish and you're making this hard for not only yourself, but for everyone around you."

"Well that's what I do, isn't it?" Thea shrugged, "I just bring everyone down with me for the ride." She nodded.

"You've been doing good-"

"Stop saying it like that!" Thea yelled, "As if I'm not even a human being. Like all I am is a… walking addiction." She spat.

"Well it's true, you were doing good. You worked things out with Jackson, you were back at counselling and back at college… every time you see him, you can't do that. He has feelings, Thea. You have any idea how bad he's hurting right now?"

"How bad he's hurting?" Thea shook her head with shock at what her mother was saying.

"Yes. Yes, because he didn't choose to leave us. He lost us just like we lost him. But we had each other. He had nothing and no one. And all he wants is to see his girls again, and you're making him feel worse than he probably already feels anyway-"

"He had a choice. I don't care what he says. He chose to get involved with drug dealing and he got himself in this mess." Thea shook her head.

"You can't have so much hate all the time." AJ shook her head, "And you can't use alcohol to help, Thea." AJ said, "Haven't you put yourself through enough? Your body?"

"I'm fine." Thea scoffed.

"You're not fine. You'll be lucky if your sister speaks to you again after that." AJ said as Thea shook her head, struggling to stay balanced as AJ looked at her, "I'm getting your coat and you're going home." AJ told her.

"No, I'm not five." Thea screwed her face up.

"You're going home." AJ made clear.

"No, I'm not." Thea challenged, "I'm going out." She nodded, trying to back up as AJ grabbed her.

"You are not." AJ made clear.

"Get off of me." Thea shook AJ's hands from her, "Can't stop me." She shook her head, backing up and walking off down the street through the busy crowd, taking her shoes off to make it easier for her as AJ placed her hand on her forehead, taking a deep breath.

She sometimes wondered how her heart still functioned properly with the worry and stress that came with Thea's teenage and adulthood.

"Hey, where is she?" Punk walked out of the restaurant. He had saw AJ and Thea arguing through the restaurant window, and he didn't want to see anything get out of control.

"I don't know she's just took off." AJ said stressfully, "I don't know where she's going or where she'll end up." AJ said helplessly as Punk sighed, "I told her before we came here, no drinking, and she agreed. I really thought we'd get through the night and it'd be ok." AJ shook her head, hyperventilating as Punk watched.

It was just now that he couldn't imagine the stress AJ had been through over the years with Thea's behaviour. It was unfair. He knew Thea's issues were taking over her, but to see AJ this worried, he couldn't imagine Thea ever wanting to do that to her mother.

"I'll go find her." Punk said.

"No… no, Jude wanted you at her birthday. I will go look for her." AJ nodded.

"Ok, just… just take a deep breath, yeah?" He looked at her as she nodded, taking a deep breath and sighing.

"I don't know what else I'm supposed to do." AJ said helplessly with tears welling in her eyes.

It always came back to her thinking her parenting skills weren't good enough. Seeing Thea this way, all the abuse she'd put her body through over the years, AJ just couldn't help feel it reflected on her, and she wasn't sure she could take much more of the worrying. It was physically and emotionally draining.

"You're not doing anything wrong." Punk assured her, "You've never done anything wrong. She just… she needs some help." He nodded as AJ wiped her tears and sighed, "None of this is on you. If anything, it's on me." He said as she shook her head.

"No, you can't blame yourself." AJ shook her head, "You just go back in, tell everyone I'm taking Thea home, I don't want them to worry." She said, "And I'll.. I'll go look for her." She said, wiping her tears as Punk nodded.

"Am I… allowed to hug you right now?" Punk asked her. He felt like it was the right thing to offer, seeing her so emotionally stressed. And he felt like he had to ask first before doing it.

"Yes." AJ nodded, feeling him wrap his arms around her as she hugged into him tightly. Something she didn't know she needed until she was in the moment. She'd missed the comfort she got from him. So much comfort.

"Once you find her give me a text." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"I will." AJ nodded, pulling back from him as he watched her walk off down the street.

* * *

Meanwhile Thea had headed downtown to the bars she knew well, heading inside one and walking straight to the bar for a drink. Truth was, the second she realised she could go out drinking on her own, she knew she had a problem, and that was months ago.

"Usual, Mark." Thea nodded, sitting up on a bar stool as Mark looked across at her.

"Sure thing." Mark nodded reluctantly, pouring her a glass of wine, about to take the bottle away.

"Just leave the bottle." Thea nodded, handing her card over to him as she took a drink.

"Where you been or where you going?" Mark asked, handing her card back to her.

"I was at my little sister's birthday dinner." Thea said, "And I think I may have ruined it." She nodded to herself, reaching over for a shot glass and grabbing one of the shot mixers.

"Thea." Mark scoffed.

"Just take it off my card, it's fine." Thea nodded, pouring herself a shot.

"Hey, you doing ok?" Mark sighed as Thea nodded.

"I'm fine." Thea assured him.

"You don't want me to phone Jackson?" Mark asked.

"No, I don't." Thea said, "I'm just gonna have a few." She shrugged.

The issue she had, was denial. Deep down, she knew she was suffering, but she couldn't admit it to herself. This was the only way she knew how to deal with things, and it wasn't because of anyone or anything but herself.

"I'll hold you to that." Mark nodded, "If it's your sister's birthday, shouldn't you be spending your night with her?"

"I sort of ruined it." Thea nodded, "My mom wanted to take me home like a child." She rolled her eyes.

"God, I love your mom." Mark nodded to himself as Thea glared at him.

"I'll slap you." Thea warned, topping her wine up as she felt the older man beside her, nudge her, "What?" Thea looked at him.

"Your Brooks' daughter?" Hamilton questioned as Thea looked at him.

"Who the hell are you?" Thea stared at him.

"Retired cop." Hamilton nodded, having been listening into Thea's conversation with the barman.

"You wanna see my ID?" Thea smirked as Hamilton chuckled.

"Same smug little questions as your father." Hamilton nodded as Thea looked at him, "So he's finally out." He nodded to himself as Thea looked at him.

"How do you know him?" Thea asked as Hamilton looked at her, "Well… I know you obviously know him, he's probably pretty famous with cops but-"

"I go way back with your mother and father." Hamilton nodded to her, "Before you were even born." He said, "They were always up to no good. I reckoned your dad picked his life up, though. Picked himself up and got out of the rotten town he grew up in. Had a family and a good life." Hamilton said as Thea watched him finish his beer and ask for another.

"Yeah well that didn't last." Thea said, topping her wine up as Hamilton nodded.

"I know." Hamilton said, "Part of me thought it would. I was on his case all the time, and I really believed he was on a good path. But I know better than anybody that once you've dipped your toe into that life, it comes back, one way or another." He nodded, "And it came back for him."

"He did it to himself." Thea shook her head as Hamilton looked at her.

"I remember taking you home from a party when you were a kid. You snuck out of your house under your mom and dad's nose." Hamilton chuckled, "That's you, right? I'm not getting mixed up?"

"That's me." Thea nodded, "So you arrested my dad?"

"The first time." Hamilton nodded, "I dealt with his case the second time but… I wasn't as involved." He said.

"And now you just sit around at bars?" Thea asked.

"Well I'm retired." Hamilton nodded.

"Yeah, you look like you should be retired." Thea agreed.

"And you're too young to be pounding a bottle of wine over like that." Hamilton said, "How long has your dad been out?"

"Few weeks." Thea said bluntly.

"Feels like just yesterday that kid showed up at the station to rat him out." Hamilton shook his head as Thea turned to him.

"Kid?" Thea shook her head, "What kid?"

"God, I… I can't remember his name." Hamilton said.

"I thought he just got caught I didn't… I didn't know someone went to the police." Thea shook her head.

"Yeah, some kid dropped him in it. I'm sure he was a friend of yours." Hamilton shook his head as Thea turned to him.

"A friend of mine?" Thea questioned.

"Yeah. A boy." Hamilton said, "Shaggy brown hair and dark eyes. I thought he was just trolling me." Hamilton admitted as Thea thought to herself. It couldn't have been.

"W-What did he tell you?" Thea asked.

"God, I can't remember. It was so long ago." Hamilton shook his head, "Something about his mom using and he'd saw your dad storing stuff at the old apartment, so we looked there and lone behold…" Hamilton nodded as Thea looked at him, feeling sick with worry and disbelief. There was no way it could be…


	48. Letting It Out

**Letting It Out**

* * *

"You didn't find her?" Punk asked, standing in Sam's house later that night on the phone with AJ who had called him, frantic with worry as she couldn't find Thea in any of the local pubs or bars.

"Ok, that's it, I'm gonna come meet you and we'll go look for her together." Punk said, grabbing his jacket as he walked through the house, opening up the door and pausing when he saw Thea sitting on the doorstep.

"April, she's here." Punk said, "She's at Sam's house." He nodded, listening to AJ's relief through the phone. He swore he heard her crying with relief, "I'll make sure she gets home safe." Punk promised before hanging up, looking on at Thea who was sat on the doorstep.

She had no shoes on and no jacket in the pouring rain.

"Thea." Punk said softly, crouching down at the doorway as Thea turned to him, "Come on, get inside. You'll catch a cold." He nodded as she just stared at him.

She watched as he put his hand out to help her up, looking at his hand and declining the offer, getting up on her own, almost falling over as Punk took her by the arm and helped her into the house. She was drunk, but not as bad as he was preparing for.

"I'll take you home, yeah?" Punk nodded to her. He would never get into anything with her whilst she was in this state. He just wanted to get her home safely, in her own bed, for he and AJ's own peace of mind.

Thea just shook her head, shaking his hand away from her arm as she walked through to the kitchen.

Thea walked over to one of the cupboards, looking at her grandmother's alcohol collection and picking the first thing she could see.

"Thea." Punk shook his head, watching as she pulled out a glass and poured some straight vodka into it as Punk sighed, "Come on, I'm taking you home." He nodded.

"Why don't you drink?" Thea asked curiously, wobbling her way over to the kitchen table and sitting down, lucky that she aimed well for the seat and didn't end up on the floor.

"I never felt the need." Punk nodded, watching her top her glass up with vodka. He immediately reached out to grab the bottle when she snatched it away and looked at him.

"Get that tattooed little hand away." Thea warned as Punk shook his head and stepped back a little.

"Why don't you drink?" Thea asked again as Punk took a deep breath.

"I told you, I never felt the need." Punk said.

"But you're like… a bad guy." Thea nodded, "And your mother's an alcoholic."

"Exactly. I didn't want to be like her." Punk said as Thea chuckled.

"I guess it just skipped a generation and headed straight for me." She laughed to herself as Punk looked at her.

"You're gonna get better." Punk said, "Right now, you need to be in your own bed." He advised as Thea looked up at him.

"You know… you know the one thing I actually admired about you… the one thing." She said, "You wanted mom to tell us the truth about everything you did." Thea nodded to herself.

"You deserved to know." Punk nodded.

"But you forgot to mention that I…" She paused as Punk looked at her, "I did this to you." She whispered, looking up at him.

"What are you talking about?" Punk shook his head.

"I did this." Thea whispered to herself, "I… I told Jackson about drugs in the old apartment and… and I didn't know they were yours. And he… he went to the cops… why did he go to the cops?" She asked herself angrily as Punk raised his eyebrows.

"Who have you been talking to?" Punk asked worriedly. He knew at one point the truth would come out, he really wished he or Jackson could have told her before she found out, and he also wished she had been sober.

"A police offcer." Thea nodded to herself, "I put you in prison." She looked up at him, "I did this." She shook her head in disbelief.

"No. No, you didn't do anything wrong. None of this is on you at all. It's… it's not even on Jackson." Punk shook his head, "He was a kid, and he was worried, and he was your friend-"

"And he got you took away from me." Thea shook her head with confusion, "Why-Why would he do that?" She asked herself.

"Look, we can talk about this when you've had a good sleep and you're mind is clearer. Right now, I gotta take you home to your mom." Punk nodded. He couldn't have a discussion about it when she was like this. It wasn't fair to him or her.

"Ok." Thea nodded drunkenly, standing up from the table, keeping her hands on it to keep herself steady as Punk watched her.

"Let me help you." Punk nodded, taking her hand as she gripped it tightly, looking over at him.

Next thing he knew, her arms were around him and she was sobbing loudly whilst hugging him tightly. It was the first time he'd gotten to hug or hold her. He'd had plenty of hugs from Jude and Cassie. And he'd even shared a warm embrace with AJ. This was the only thing missing, and hadn't it been for her crying, so upset, he would have been relishing the fact he got to hug her again.

"You're ok." Punk soothed, brushing his hand down the back of her head, listening to her crying, "It's gonna be fine." He nodded, kissing her head and sighing to himself.

* * *

He eventually got Thea out of the house and managed to walk her home. It was like keeping an eye on a deer learning how to walk. One minute she'd be walking fine and the next she'd almost fall flat on her face. One night of this really showed him how hard things had to have been for AJ this entire time.

Thea didn't say much, she stopped talking about crying on him, just mumbling little things to herself.

Finally they got to the house where Punk knocked on the door.

"I live her." Thea turned to him drunkenly, "Knocking." She scoffed to herself as Punk just kept her up.

AJ immediately answered the door, the biggest look of relief on her face when she saw Thea.

Punk helped her in and took her through to the living room where Thea crashed on the couch, falling asleep almost instantly whilst AJ pulled Punk back into the hallway.

"She just showed up at Sam's?" AJ asked him.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "I went back to Sam's to get some things to take to my apartment and then you called to tell me you couldn't find her. I was gonna go help you look and she just showed up on the doorstep." He said.

"She can't go on like this." AJ shook her head, "I mean, she's killing herself." AJ said, seriously worried.

"Yeah, we… she needs help, proper help." Punk nodded, "She knows that it was Jackson who got me arrested." He said.

"What?" AJ shook her head with confusion.

"Yeah, that's why she came to Sam's to find me I guess. She kept saying she did this." Punk shook his head, "I just wanted to get her home and I'll… I'll talk with her about tomorrow, if I'm allowed." He raised his brows.

"Wait… how did she find out?" AJ shook her head.

"She told me she spoke to a cop." Punk said, looking at AJ, both thinking the same thing.

"I swear he retired." AJ shook her head.

"Well, he can still talk about things." Punk said, "It was gonna come out at one point. I just… I don't want her beating herself up about it. She said about her telling Jackson about the drugs at the apartment… she's totally gonna blame herself and with her current state, she doesn't need anymore reason to lift a bottle."

"I know." AJ sighed, "I know, you'll need to talk to her about it. I don't care if I have to lock you both in a room. She needs to know it wasn't her fault." AJ nodded.

"Yeah." Punk said, "How is Jude doing? She was pretty upset when we left the restaurant." He sighed. His mind was also on his other daughter, whose birthday was pretty much ruined by all of this, which didn't seem fair at all.

"She's upset." AJ nodded, "Told me that she's never speaking to Thea again." AJ said.

"She just wanted one night." Punk sighed to himself.

"Yeah, there's been a lot of these moments over the years." AJ assured him, rubbing her forehead tiredly as Punk watched her.

"Are you ok?" He asked her.

"Yeah." AJ said. It was just something she automatically got used to saying. Yes.

"Really?" Punk questioned, "Just because me and you are… well I don't know what we are." He admitted, "Doesn't mean that you can't talk to me about this. I can't imagine how hard all of it's been for you."

"You're right, you wouldn't be able to imagine." AJ nodded, "I feel like I haven't slept in years." AJ admitted honestly.

"Ape, why didn't you come to me? I… I know we had that massive fight and I was a dick, yeah." Punk nodded, "But you could have come and talked to me about what was going on. I know I couldn't have done anything but, we could have talked about it, you could have came and got it all off your chest."

"And then what? I send you back into your cell for twenty three hours to think of your daughter in hospital because she's addicted to cocaine?" She questioned, "I never wanted to do that. We have to accept that… that time in our lives was a separate time. What's the point in constantly going back and analysing what we should have done. It won't make a difference." She shrugged as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, I know." Punk sighed, "I just hate that I couldn't help you." He shook his head.

"I know that." AJ assured him, "You can help me now, though." She nodded as Punk looked across at her, "With the girls." AJ clarified as Punk nodded slowly.

Of course, amongst all the madness, he simply missed his wife. He missed everything with her. Their morning coffee, their late night chats in bed, their date nights and their cuddles on the sofa.

"Yeah, I think I owe it to you, and to them." Punk nodded.

"I uh… now that you're out I was gonna talk to you actually about filing for divorce." AJ nodded to him as Punk looked at her, "I never felt like I could when you were gone, I just… I felt like I still needed that security, as ridiculous as it sounds-"

"You wanna get a divorce?" Punk asked her.

"Well… don't act like it's a ridiculous thing to ask for." AJ said, "We haven't been a couple in eight years. And… we've lost too much time. Too much has happened."

"Doesn't mean we gotta jump into anything." Punk shook his head with confusion.

"I just feel like…" AJ sighed to herself, "It's the right thing to do." She nodded. She didn't want to do this. She never thought the day would ever come where she was divorcing that boy she fell in love with when she was sixteen, but things had changed, they had changed.

"You pick your timing right." Punk scoffed sarcastically.

"I don't mean getting it right now, I know that Thea needs our help more and… it would just be a distraction but, I would like to talk about it with you, maybe once things have calmed down we could do it." AJ nodded.

"Sure." Punk nodded briefly. He couldn't get mad, because he understood. But he could be upset. He was upset.

"I'll text you when she wakes up in the morning." AJ said as Punk nodded to her, "It's time you and her really need to talk." She said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah." Punk agreed, "Ok. Well… goodnight." He nodded to her, turning around and quickly leaving the house as AJ sighed. She planned on giving him a hug, but it looked like he wanted nothing more than to leave.


	49. Tough Love

**Tough Love**

* * *

"What time is it?" Thea asked painfully, lying on the couch as she looked over at her mother sitting across with a coffee, watching TV.

"2pm." AJ said bluntly as Thea groaned, placing her hand on her head and turning onto her back. She had been awake for an hour or so, just lying thinking about the previous night and everything that had happened.

"Where is Jude?" Thea asked, sitting up on the couch, screwing her eyes up due to how bad her headache was.

"Jude and Cassie are both at school." AJ said.

"Why are you not at work?" Thea asked.

"I start late." AJ told her, "Your father is in the kitchen. He's here to babysit you when I go to work." AJ looked over at her as Thea shook her head.

"You're kidding, right?" Thea questioned.

"No." AJ said, "Go take a shower and change your clothes." AJ told her.

"If you think I'm staying here with him then-"

"I will drag you up those stairs and put you in the shower myself." AJ looked at her, "Do it, and do it now." AJ nodded. She had so much sympathy for her daughter, and she'd always been there with hugs and kisses for her, but now just wasn't the time for that. Tough love had to come into play at one point. Especially when her other daughter's were starting to suffer.

Thea didn't say anything, sensing how mad her mother looked. She stood up and walked out of the living room, pausing in the hallway and looking down into the kitchen where she saw her father standing. She sighed to herself and headed upstairs. She remembered everything from last night.

AJ got up from the couch and walked off into the kitchen where Punk was, "She's gone for a shower." AJ told him, putting her mug in the sink as Punk nodded.

"She's not gonna climb out the window up there, is she?" Punk asked as AJ smiled a little.

"Let's not joke about that." AJ said, nonetheless smiling still as Punk nodded, "She'll need some aspirin and water. Don't sugar-coat her drinking. She needs to know this is affecting other people now." She said as Punk nodded.

"I know." Punk nodded, "You should get to work."

"Yeah." AJ said, grabbing her coat from the cupboard, "Just call me if anything happens." She said.

"I will." Punk nodded, watching her nod and leave the kitchen to go to work.

It felt strange being back in the kitchen, making himself coffee the way he used to do before the eight years he spent in prison. He noticed some pictures on the fridge that weren't there before. Pictures of Cassie as a little one and Thea as a younger teen. The common theme in all of the pictures, was there was no him.

He sat in the kitchen with a coffee, reading the paper until he heard footsteps coming back down the stairs, watching as Thea walked into the kitchen, avoiding eye contact with him.

"Morning." Punk said, "Or… afternoon." He supposed, sliding across the bottle of water and pills as Thea eventually looked up at him.

She was in some sweats and a large hoodie, fresh faced from her shower with the tips of her long dark hair wet.

All she kept remembering from last night was crying in an embrace with him. The other stuff came to her in drabs, but that was the one thing she could remember for sure, one thing she could still feel.

She reached out, taking the water and pills as he watched her swallow them over, "Where is my mom?" Thea asked cautiously.

"She's gone to work." Punk nodded as Thea slowly walked over to the other side of the table, pulling the chair out as Punk watched her sit down across from him.

"You want coffee?" Punk asked her.

"No." Thea shook her head, "Coffee isn't good for you." She said with a smirk as Punk nodded to himself. Sometimes it was like staring in the mirror. The sarcasm. The dry wit.

"Maybe I'll cut back." Punk nodded to himself, "Not good to abuse your insides." He said, sliding the empty mug across to her as Thea nodded.

All he could see when he stared at her, was the little girl he raised, the little girl he watched grow and grow.

"_No, don't take them off." Five year old Thea shook her head, watching her father crouch down beside her bike, taking the stabilisers from it as she watched nervously._

"_You got this." Punk nodded to her as she shook her head._

"_I don't got this." Thea tested him, "Leave them on." She demanded as Punk shook his head. She definitely had him wrapped around her finger. Standing there in her little overalls with her cubs cap on and converse laced on her feet. A little bit of Punk and AJ's parenting input was definitely showing. But he definitely knew what was best for her, and when she was ready for things. _

"_No, we're doing this today." Punk nodded, taking the stabilisers and walking over to the trash by the side of their house as Thea ran after him._

"_Daddy stop. I don't want to." Thea laughed, trying to grab onto him as Punk opened up the trash, tossing the stabilisers in as she gasped, "You're mean." _

"_I hurt to heal." Punk patted her on the head as she folded her arms._

"_I'm telling mommy." Thea said. _

"_Mommy likes me better than you." Punk said childishly, picking her bike up and walking out onto the street as Thea watched him, "Come on." He nodded to her as Thea ran after him._

"_I can't ride that." Thea shook her head._

"_You can." Punk nodded, "Hop on." He said as Thea looked at him, "I'll hold it." He assured her as Thea huffed, swinging her little leg over and getting onto the bike as Punk held the handles and the back of the seat._

"_I can't peddle." Thea sighed._

"_You can." Punk nodded, "Put your feet on." He said, watching her reluctantly put her feet on the peddles, "Ok, start peddling." Punk nodded, walking along with her on the bike, keeping a hold of the seat._

_He discreetly let go, standing back as he watched her peddle for a little while until she lost her balance and fell over with the bike. She didn't cry. She was mad._

"_I don't want to do this!" Thea yelled, shoving the bike over and getting up, dusting her scraped knees and huffing as Punk watched her, "I don't like this." She told him, walking away angrily as Punk watched her sit down on the step at their door._

_He walked over to the bike, picking it up and wheeling it back over as he watched her sit on the front step, resting her chin in her hands._

"_Thea." Punk said sweetly._

"_Don't talk to me." Thea said, standing up and running over to the trash, trying to jump up to open it up to get her stabilisers out._

_Punk walked over, watching her try her best to open up the trash._

"_What are you doing?" Punk asked._

"_I want the wheels that help me on my bike." Thea told him._

"_But you don't need the help anymore." Punk said._

"_Daddy look, I hurted my knees." She showed them her grazed knees._

"_All the more reason to get back on the bike." Punk nodded._

"_No, I'm scared of it." Thea told him, "And you're mean."_

"_Why am I mean?" Punk laughed a little._

"_You took my wheels that help me away from me." Thea said, "And now I'll never be able to ride my bike ever again." She said dramatically as Punk looked over at her._

"_Hey." Punk sighed, walking over to her and crouching down in front of her, "Do you trust daddy?"_

"_No." Thea replied as Punk scoffed._

"_You're supposed to say yes." Punk shook his head as Thea grinned cheekily, "Do you believe me when I say that… daddy knows best?" He asked her._

"_You do know more than me." Thea agreed as Punk smiled, "But because you're old." She pointed out as Punk laughed a little._

"_I'm only twenty five." Punk chuckled._

"_Old." Thea nodded as Punk smiled._

"_You can ride this bike." Punk nodded confidently as Thea looked at him. _

"_I don't think I can." Thea shook her head._

"_You keep trying. You don't give up." Punk said, "You fall off… get straight back on." He said as Thea sighed, "I know you got this." He said as Thea looked at him. _

"_If I get on, you can't let go." She looked at him seriously._

"_No, I'm gonna let go." Punk nodded to her, "But when I do, you'll be good." He winked, standing up and walking off to where her bike was lying out on their street._

_Thea ran after him, standing watching as he picked up her bike._

"_You ride it." Thea said._

"_I'll break it." Punk scoffed, "And it… it's got unicorns and princess' all over it."_

"_You love unicorns." Thea looked at him with confusion._

"_Yeah but don't expose me." Punk shook his head as Thea smiled, "Jump on." He said as Thea sighed, getting onto the bike as Punk watched her._

"_Phillip!" AJ called, walking out of the house as Punk looked over, "Helmet?" AJ said angrily, holding Thea's helmet as Punk looked down at Thea._

"_Shit." Punk forgot._

"_Bad word." Thea pointed out as AJ walked over to them._

"_I forgot." Punk smiled to AJ innocently as she raised a brow._

"_Let's not have our child crack her skull on the concrete." AJ smiled to him, shoving the helmet into his chest as Punk smiled and nodded._

"_Of course not." Punk nodded._

"_Mommy, he's making me ride the bike without my other wheels." Thea said as AJ nodded._

"_Daddy knows best." AJ nodded to her, "Doesn't know safety." She scolded, "Never has." She smiled to Punk who smiled back._

"_Nothing wrong with a little danger." Punk shrugged._

"_Not when it comes to my baby." AJ pointed to him seriously as Punk nodded, "Helmet on." She looked at both of them before walking off._

"_You got in trouble." Thea whispered with laughter as Punk scoffed._

"_No, I didn't." Punk shook his head, taking Thea's cap off and putting her helmet on her head, clipping it under her chin and adjusting it, "Safety first. Mommy's right." He nodded as Thea rolled her eyes. She was a lot like him in the danger department._

"_I'll fall off again." Thea sighed._

"_If you do, you try again." Punk nodded, holding the back of the bike seat, "Start peddling." He said, walking along with the bike behind her to keep her steady._

"_Don't let go, just walk with me!" Thea told him, focused in front of her as Punk walked a little bit more with her until he let go of the seat, pausing as he watched her cycle away, this time watching her stay on the bike and cycle on her own._

_He smiled to himself, crouching down and watching as she cycled to the end of the road, feeling that swelling in his heart that only his daughter brought out in him. _

"_Look who's riding a bike on their own!" Punk yelled as Thea cycled around in a circle to double back, realising she was doing it on her own, watching her little face light up._

"_I'm doing it!" Thea smiled happily as Punk nodded._

"_Hell yeah you are!" Punk called as AJ walked out of the door, looking on as Thea rode her bike on her own, smiling to herself. She wasn't sure if it was Thea riding her bike or Punk's gigantic smile that was making her smile, but all of it was beautiful._

"_Look I'm doing it." Thea smiled, cycling by Punk as he watched in awe with a smile._

"_Yeah you are." Punk nodded to himself, turning to AJ who was standing at the door, smiling to her as she smiled back._

"_She's got this." AJ winked to him as Punk nodded._

"_Yes she does." Punk smiled to himself. _

"What are you doing here?" Thea asked, looking across at Punk.

"You know what I'm doing here." Punk nodded as she stared at him.

"I… I don't want to talk about it." Thea shook her head.

"We have to talk." Punk said. It came down to this. A conversation. One they needed to have. Not just for themselves, but for everyone else around them too.

"I don't want to." Thea shook her head childishly as Punk nodded.

"I know you don't." He nodded, "I know you don't."


	50. No Progress

**No Progress**

* * *

"Why didn't you tell me?" Thea asked as Punk looked at her.

"I didn't want you to be hard on yourself. I didn't want you to think it was your fault." He said, "It was bad enough… everything that happened, without you thinking that it was because of you." Punk said.

"Why didn't Jackson tell me?" She shook her head, almost asking herself the question.

"That's not really for me to say." Punk said.

"All this time I've been dating the guy who… who did this to you, who got you arrested?" Thea questioned, "And you never thought that was something I should know?"

"Thea, I never thought you'd grow up and date him. And you cut me off, so I didn't know." Punk said, "And any time I tried to talk to you since I got out, you walked in the opposite direction." He said as she scratched the back of her head and looked down.

"Why would Jackson want you in prison? Why would he do that?" Thea looked across at him.

"He caught me one night." Punk nodded, "I was moving some stuff at the club and he was there. He was picking up stuff for his mom." He said, "That's obviously when he figured out what I was doing. I saw him a couple more times after that. He was mad at me. Said it was people like me that made his mom the way she was." He said.

"He didn't lie." Thea glared across at him, "I speak for his mother. Without dealers, there'd be no addicts." She said.

"I know that." Punk said, "At the time I thought he was just an emotional kid. Mad at the world." Punk nodded, "Then he said he wanted to tell you. That you were his friend and that he couldn't keep that from you." He said as Thea nodded slowly.

"And you didn't want him to say anything?" Thea assumed.

"You were thirteen." Punk said, "And I just… I was trying to protect you from all of that stuff." He said as she laughed.

"Oh, you did a terrific job." Thea nodded sarcastically as Punk sighed, "What'd you say to him?"

"I just said that you were too young and that he should just… keep his mouth shut." Punk nodded, "And then… I got arrested not long after and it was because they found the drugs at the old apartment."

"I never knew they were yours." Thea shook her head, "I… I told Jackson that me and Sam were at the old apartment and we almost got caught by some dealers. I thought it was a cool story at the time." She said, "But you can imagine how I feel now, knowing that it wasn't some scary drug dealers… it was just my good old dad coming in to pick his drugs up." Thea nodded to herself.

"I just knew that no one would be there, it was the only place I could hold stuff. And I didn't think you'd be there, ever." Punk shook his head, "The cops told me that Jackson found out that information from you, so the second I heard that I asked your mom to leave that part out. It wasn't important."

"It's important to me." Thea looked across at him, "You're telling me if I never said anything to Jackson… you could have been here this entire time." She said.

"Who knows." Punk said, "Maybe it was always gonna happen to me. You're right. I was playing with fire and I got burned. I could have tried harder to get my way out of it, but I didn't, it was easier just to shut up and get on with it." He nodded.

"I always thought you were so… cool." Thea shook her head as Punk looked at her, "So badass and fun."

"I'm the same guy I've always been." Punk made clear.

"Yeah, you are. Truth is, I just never really knew you were." Thea nodded, "When mom told me everything about you, about when this started, about Rio." Thea looked at him, "That's when things changed. Not when I cut you off, not when you got arrested, when she told me that you weren't who I thought you were." Thea said.

"I'm not any different. I'm still the same dad I was before you knew about my past." Punk assured her, "I still love you, I still love all of you." He said as Thea looked at him.

"What do you want me to say?" Thea asked him, "You can't undo all of this. I can't undo it. I grew up, dad." She made clear, "And it was the worst experience of my life, because in the back of my head I always had that image of you in prison. And I had to watch mom struggle on her own, I had to watch Cassie grow up and… not even know who you are." Thea shook her head.

"I know." Punk nodded, "I know that this was especially difficult on you and your mom. You weren't a baby or a little girl. You probably remember everything-"

"Everything." Thea nodded.

"And until the day I die, I'm gonna hate myself for that. For putting you through that. For not being here when you needed me."

"I didn't need you. I had my mom." Thea nodded, "She was there for me for everything, and she helped me. There was a time that I didn't actually care if I lived or died. But I had people around me who did and that's what helped me." She said, "At that point in my life, you were not on my mind." She made clear as Punk nodded slowly.

"That doesn't change how I feel. Because I know I should have been here to help you." Punk nodded as Thea looked at him.

"I was doing good." Thea shook her head sadly, "I was actually happy… and then you got out." She looked at him.

"What do you want me to do, Thea? Disappear? Ruin my relationship with Cassie and Jude just so you can feel better?" Punk asked her, "I got the message, I know you don't want to see me or talk to me, but this isn't just about our relationship anymore, this is about your health."

"My health is fine." Thea shook her head.

"You could barely stand up last night. You ruined your sister's birthday. You got smacked by an angry wife whose husband you slept with." He stared at her.

"You're pointing all of this stuff out to me as if I don't already know." Thea said angrily, "I'm not an idiot. I know what I've done." She said, "You sure as hell aren't going to help me." She made clear.

"I just want you to be ok." Punk shook his head, "You don't gotta be filled with so much anger all the time. It's gonna get exhausting." He said as she looked at him, "I'm not saying you shouldn't feel any sort of hurt or resentment because of me-"

"I stopped watching the cubs." Thea looked at him, "And the Blackhawks." She said, "I stopped watching all of it." She looked across at him.

"Why?" Punk asked. He knew why.

"Because it was our thing." Thea said, "Anytime I saw it on TV, it… it made me feel sick." She shook her head, "Just looking at it." She shook her head as Punk nodded.

"I'm sorry." Punk shook his head, "I can say it and I can say it… I know it's not gonna change what you want through. Nothing will." He nodded, "But please just… just let me in, Thea. I can still be your dad." He nodded as she looked at him.

"Can you?" Thea questioned, "That police officer told me that once you're in that sort of life, you never get out of it. It's a vicious circle." She said.

"I didn't choose to do it last time. I didn't go out looking for it. I was trying to protect your mother."

"And now look what you did to her." Thea said, "Ruined her life." She shook her head, "I think we both have that in common actually. She deserves so much better."

"Maybe you're right." Punk nodded.

"I just think you and I…it's not gonna work." Thea nodded, "I get why Jude wants to see you, she grew up and didn't know any different. She just knew a life where you were in prison. But I had before. I grew up wanting my dad back." Thea said, tears in her eyes as Punk nodded, "And now it just feels like it's too far gone." She shook her head, drying her eyes quickly.

"I understand why you feel like that." Punk said, "But all I'm asking is for a chance to prove to you, I'm still that guy you remember. I'm still your dad. Nothing is gonna change that."

"Nothing will change that." Thea agreed, "But everything around us has changed. Talking to me for an hour isn't going to change how I feel, you have to understand that."

She'd had this burden in her life for so long, that it honestly felt like nothing he could say or do would change anything, and that really sucked. It also sucked that somewhere inside her, she felt guilt for her own feelings, guilt for how her father ended up arrested. And she also felt betrayed and hurt by her own boyfriend. There was a range of emotions she was going through, which of course just made her want to drink.

"I know it's not gonna change overnight." Punk nodded, "I just never want to make things uncomfortable between us." He sighed.

"We don't have to." Thea said, "I know that you want to be a good dad to Jude and Cassie, and I think it's great my little sisters have that chance to see you do good." She nodded, "And I know you're gonna be around because of that… but I don't want a relationship with you." She made herself clear as Punk nodded. What else could he do? Fight her on it?

"Ok." Punk nodded quietly, "You're old enough to make your own decisions." Punk nodded, "But that doesn't mean I'm not concerned about your health-"

"Everybody is always concerned about my health. You get used to it." Thea nodded.

"No, I won't get used to it." Punk said, "I want you to get help. You have your whole life ahead of you-"

"I've heard this speech a thousand times." Thea nodded.

"Then listen to it." Punk said seriously as she looked at him.

"I do. Trust me." Thea said quietly, "I'm gonna go sleep." She told him, standing up, "I'm gonna need a lot of energy for when I break up with my boyfriend later." She nodded as Punk looked at her.

"You guys can talk-"

"You can stay out of it." Thea concluded, "I assume you're staying here to babysit me." She shrugged as Punk nodded, "I also need energy to somehow get my sister to forgive me for ruining her birthday." She nodded.

"Sounds like you got a lot to do later." Punk said as she nodded, walking out of the kitchen as Punk sighed to himself and ran his hand over his face.

She was as stubborn as he was, and there was no getting through to her. She was so fixed on her pain, that she wasn't even considering the thought of healing.


	51. Love Always

**Love Always**

* * *

"How'd it go?" AJ asked, getting home from work later that night where Punk was still at the house.

"I don't want to say it was a complete waste of time but…" Punk shrugged unhappily, "She's just not even considering the thought of us having a relationship." He said as AJ took her coat off, standing in the kitchen.

"I think it's just a bad time for her all round. I think she needs to… help herself before she can really think about what she wants with you." AJ nodded, hanging her coat up in the kitchen cupboard, closing it over.

"She's been in her room all day." Punk said, "Where is Jude and Cassie at?"

"Jude is at a friend's house and Cassie at soccer practise. One of the other mom's drops her off. She should be home soon." AJ looked at the clock as Punk nodded.

"I should get out of your hair." Punk nodded, "Let you start dinner or whatever." He said, standing up from the table as AJ watched him.

"What did she say about Jackson?" AJ asked curiously.

"That she's breaking up with him." Punk shrugged, "But from what I hear, they break up all the time."

"They do." AJ nodded, "But I don't know… this is a little different." AJ said.

"I guess it is." Punk nodded, "How was… how was work?" He asked her as she looked at him funnily.

"Work?" She laughed a little.

"Yeah." Punk shrugged as she smiled.

"Work was fine." AJ smiled softly as he nodded.

"Well I'm glad." Punk nodded sincerely, noticing the loose thread like bracelet around her wrist, "You're… still wearing it." He noticed with a fond smile as AJ looked at him, realising what he was looking at as she looked down at the bracelet, tucking her cardigan sleeve over it nervously.

"It's just… habit." AJ shook her head as Punk nodded.

"You think it's brought you any luck?" Punk smiled a little as she scoffed.

"What do you think?" AJ asked with a small smile.

* * *

"_Why the fuck are we down here?" Dean asked, walking beside Punk as they walked through the docks late one night. _

"_I told your ass to stay if you didn't want to come." Punk shook his head._

"_I was getting cabin fever in that motel." Dean scratched his neck as Punk looked at him, pushing him as Dean pushed back childishly, "Seriously, what are we doing down here?"_

"_There's a flea market down here." Punk nodded._

"_At this time?" Dean asked, taking a cigarette out and lighting up as Punk took the cigarette from his mouth and threw it into the river, "Dude." Dean looked at his eighteen-year-old brother._

"_Next time the pack goes in." Punk said casually as Dean shook his head._

"_Why is your ass taking me to a flea market?" Dean shook his head, "And what kind of flea market is this? It's 9 O'clock at night."_

"_It's run by travellers." Punk told him as Dean scoffed, "They're friends of Rio."_

"_Of course they are." Dean nodded._

"_April's birthday is tomorrow." Punk said, "This is how much I got in my pocket." Punk pulled out a ten dollar bill as Dean looked at him._

"_It's not like she's a materialistic bitch." Dean shook his head._

"_I still wanna try and get her something nice." Punk shrugged, "Ok, before we go in here, don't start a fight with these people." Punk warned his brother, approaching the market as Dean rolled his eyes._

"_I don't know why you bring me to these places." Dean shook his head, both of them walking into the market, feeling like everyone was staring at them, "Do we got something on our faces?" Dean whispered to Punk who elbowed him._

"_Shut up." Punk warned, walking through the market, which was basically empty. There were small stalls around with people standing behind them, staring at them._

_Punk made his way over to a stall, looking at different things as Dean stood beside._

"_What a load of junk." Dean shook his head as the woman behind the table looked across at him._

"_How much for this?" Punk asked, picking up a handmade bracelet, made with thread._

"_She's gonna think you fished that out of the river." Dean laughed to himself._

"_Five for the bracelet. Ten for the reading." The woman nodded._

"_The reading?" Punk shook his head as the woman nodded, pointing over to the tent as Punk looked over._

"_A gift?" The woman asked him._

"_Yeah, for my girlfriend." Punk nodded._

"_Forever?" The woman asked as Punk laughed a little._

"_Hope so." Punk said truthfully as the woman nodded, pointing over to the tent._

"_Take it with you." She said, handing him the bracelet and taking the money from him, pointing over to the tent as Punk turned to Dean._

"_If we get beat up, I'll kill you." Dean warned Punk, making their way towards the tent, walking inside where a woman sat at a table._

"_Sit." The woman said immediately as Punk turned to Dean, both of them walking in and sitting down across from the older woman, "Brothers?"_

"_Yeah." Punk nodded, feeling the woman take his hand, pulling it over the table as Punk groaned a little, watching the woman close her eyes._

"_What the hell is she doing?" Dean shook his head._

"_Poor boys." The woman looked at them both, "No money."_

"_Why else would we be at a flea market?" Dean scoffed as the woman looked at him._

"_No mother." The woman looked at them both, "No father." She nodded slowly. _

_Dean turned to Punk with confused brows, turning back to the woman._

"_I was told to come in here. I just bought this." Punk showed her the bracelet as she took it from him, sitting it aside as she took his hand._

"_What the hell is going on?" Dean whispered as Punk shook his head, watching the woman close her eyes, holding his hand as he shrugged._

"_Don't kill us." Punk whispered to the woman, but she wasn't listening, way too focused._

"_Three." The woman opened her eyes, looking at Punk, "One, two, three." She nodded as Punk raised a brow._

"_Huh?" Punk shook his head._

"_One." The woman said, "Trouble."_

"_You paid for this nonsense." Dean stood on Punk's foot harshly._

"_I didn't know this was gonna happen." Punk shook his head._

"_Eight years." The woman nodded as Punk shook his head._

"_Do your voodoo on the bracelet, not me." Punk told her as she looked at him._

"_One." The woman said._

"_One what?" Punk shook his head as she tossed his hand away._

"_Name?" She asked, picking the bracelet up and holding it in her hands as Dean shook his head, taking a cigarette out and lighting up._

"_Phil." Punk shrugged as the woman stared at him._

"_Who for?" She asked with frustration._

"_Oh, April." Punk understood, "Her name is April."_

_The woman nodded, holding the bracelet in her hands and closing her eyes, mumbling things to herself as Punk turned to Dean. It wasn't something he remotely believed in, but he knew AJ liked small things that meant a whole lot, and with what little money they had, this was as good as it was gonna get. If anything, at least she would laugh at it._

"_What is she doing to it?" Dean questioned, "What if she's cursing it? April puts that thing on and boom, she gets hit by a bus tomorrow morning." Dean nodded as Punk rolled his eyes, watching the woman concentrate hard. _

"_Don't be disrespectful." Punk told Dean seriously as Dean just shook his head._

"_Always love." The woman opened her eyes, handing Punk the bracelet as he took it, "Always love." She nodded, "No matter what. Forever." She assured him as Dean scoffed._

"_I'm not sure what just happened." Punk admitted truthfully, "But thank you." He said, standing up, pulling Dean up by the neck, "Wait… you don't happen to sell birthday cards here, do you?" He asked the woman who folded her arms._

* * *

"_April." Punk smiled, leaning over the bed and kissing his girlfriend on the cheek. She was fast asleep in their motel room, but started to wake upon hearing him._

"_Hey." AJ said sleepily, touching his face sweetly and opening her eyes as Punk smiled, kissing her more on the cheek and neck as she laughed, "Phil, what time is it?" AJ laughed as Punk sat down on the bed beside her._

"_It's past midnight." Punk smiled, "Happy birthday." He said, handing her a birthday card as AJ sat up in bed, her eyes a little more awake as she saw the card._

"_Phil." AJ smiled, "What is this?" She shook her head, taking the card from him._

"_Just open it." Punk smiled._

_AJ nodded, opening the envelope and taking the card out, opening up the card as she saw the bracelet fall out onto her lap. _

"_What's this?" AJ shook her head, picking up the bracelet._

"_Well I know you like things that have meaning so… I think I might have took it to another level." Punk admitted, "So I went to a travellers market and got this, and I got a woman to… do something to it." He nodded as AJ looked at him with confusion._

"_Do what exactly?" She asked, a little disturbed as Punk laughed._

"_No, not like that. She did some sort of magic on it." Punk shrugged._

"_Phil, you don't believe in any of that stuff. And why the hell were you hanging around the docks at this time?" She smacked his arm._

"_So you don't wanna know what she said about the bracelet?" Punk asked her as AJ looked at him._

"_Well what did she say?" AJ asked curiously. _

"_Always love." Punk nodded, "No matter what. Forever." He said as AJ smiled, looking on at the bracelet._

"_So if I wear this every single day for the rest of my life, I'll love you forever?" AJ asked, "Or you'll love me forever?" She smiled._

"_Well I don't need a bracelet for that but… maybe." Punk nodded as AJ smiled._

"_This is sweet." She said, looking at the bracelet, putting it on her wrist and tightening the string._

"_Happy birthday." Punk smiled as she looked up at him._

"_Thank you." AJ smiled, cupping his cheeks and leaning up to kiss him sweetly, "What else did this woman say to you?" She asked curiously as he looked at her, stroking her cheek sweetly._

"_Nothing worth mentioning." Punk shrugged as AJ smiled._

"_I didn't take you for one to enjoy a spiritual experience." AJ said._

"_I know you like meaningful things." Punk smiled as she nodded._

"_I do." AJ nodded, "I give you my word, I'll never take it off." She said as he smiled._

"_I'll hold you to that." He nodded._

"_I know you will." She smiled, leaning up and kissing his sweetly, giggling against his lips as he rolled over on top of her, helping him take his t-shirt off as she circled her legs around his waist._

* * *

"You just missed your dad." AJ said, sitting at the kitchen table doing some work as she saw Jude come through the kitchen, getting home from her friend's house.

"Why didn't he wait to say hi?" Jude asked.

"Well he's been here all day making sure Thea doesn't leave. He said he'll pick you and Cassie up from school tomorrow." AJ said, "Where you going?" She asked curiously.

"He's taking us to the movies." Jude smiled as AJ nodded, "So he talked to Thea?" Jude asked curiously.

"Not really." AJ shrugged, "Not much progress." She said as Jude just nodded, not really interested anyway, "How was your friend's? Was it Lizzie's?"

"Yeah." Jude nodded, "It was fine but she had a salad for dinner so… I'm really hungry." She huffed.

"Oh, baby there's leftovers on the stove help yourself." AJ nodded.

"I will." Jude assured her, "Is Cass home?"

"Yeah, she's upstairs getting ready for her bath. I'm just finishing up some work that I brought home" AJ said as Jude nodded, hearing footsteps coming down the stairs.

AJ watched as Thea came into the kitchen, "Hey." Thea said to both of them.

"Hi, sweetie." AJ smiled whilst Jude looked at her sister or more so glared.

"Where were you?" Thea asked Jude who ignored her, dishing more leftovers onto her plate whilst Thea turned to AJ, "Do you wanna watch a movie or something?" Thea asked Jude, fidgeting with her hands.

She knew she'd upset her sister, and that was the worst feeling in the world. She'd do anything to take it all back.

Jude continued to ignore Thea, pretending she wasn't there.

"Jude, your sister is talking to you." AJ said calmly

"I can hear her." Jude assured her mother, walking over to Thea, "I'm gonna watch the Cubs game. You can go back upstairs." Jude stared at Thea in the eyes before pushing past her and walking into the living room.

AJ sighed, putting her pen down as she looked over at Thea who nodded to herself.

"You have to understand how upset she is." AJ nodded.

"I know." Thea said, "I'm waiting on Jackson coming over."

"Ok." AJ said, "I'm going to take Cass for her bath." AJ stood up as Thea nodded, "I brought this home for you." She said, handing her daughter a leaflet as Thea took it from her.

"An AA meeting?" Thea questioned, "Really?"

"Really." AJ nodded as Thea looked at the leaflet, "Don't pretend to me you don't need it."

"Sitting in a group with strangers talking about how fucked up I am… not really the best way to help me right now." Thea shook her head.

"Don't look at it like that." AJ said, "Try looking at things from a different perspective." She nodded, "It's not going to be like this forever." She shook her head, rubbing her daughter's arm softly as Thea sighed, watching her mother leave the kitchen as she took a seat at the table, opening up the leaflet and reading it.


	52. Broken

**Broken**

* * *

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Punk asked, opening up the door in his apartment where he saw his brother standing with a case of beer.

"Thought I'd come watch the Cubs game." Dean said, walking into the apartment, "Renee and the girls are driving me insane." He shook his head as Punk smiled, closing the door over behind him, "One son. Just one. Or one nephew." He shook his head, "Everywhere I go there's females." He shook his head as Punk chuckled a little.

"Yeah, they call that karma." Punk nodded, following him into the living room. Any opportunity to hang with his brother, he loved.

"This place is looking good." Dean nodded to himself.

"I'm trying." Punk said, "I'm not long home actually. I was at April's all day." He shook his head, "Feels weird referring the house just as hers." He admitted as Dean nodded.

"Why were you there all day?" Dean asked, collapsing down on the couch and opening a beer as Punk sat across.

"Well one, to babysit Thea and make sure she didn't leave the house to go get wrecked." He shook his head, "Two, to try and talk to her. She found out that it was Jackson that got me arrested so I had to explain it all." He said, "Tried my best to get through to her but she's… she's not having it. And you know, I don't blame her. Everything she's gone through. I just want her to get healthy." Punk sighed to himself as Dean nodded.

"Must be hard." Dean said.

"It's torture." Punk shook his head, "Knowing I couldn't be there to help her, knowing how she feels about me now because of it… I'm not sure if there's anything I can actually do to prove to her I'm not some awful guy."

"Does she really think you're an awful guy, though? Or is she just hating on you because it's easier?" Dean questioned as Punk shrugged.

"I don't know." Punk sighed, "Going through all of that at her age, seeing me get arrested and disappear out of her life… of course it's stayed with her all of this time." Punk nodded.

"She needs help for the drinking. She needs to know that she can't turn to those things when life gets hard. The sooner she gets that help the better." Dean nodded, "She's also just a generally stubborn person, which doesn't help at all." He shook his head as Punk nodded.

"AJ was gonna take her to an AA meeting every week." Punk said, "At this point, that's all I care about. I just want her to be healthy and happy." He said as Dean nodded.

"She'll get there." Dean said, "She will." He nodded confidently, "Did it before. She's a strong girl."

"April wants a divorce." Punk nodded as Dean turned to him.

"She said to you?" Dean asked.

"You knew?" Punk questioned.

"Well… kinda, she mentioned it a couple years ago, said that she'd never divorce you in prison, that she wanted to see you in person for it, and talk about it more." Dean said as Punk nodded slowly, "What you thinking?"

"About my wife wanting to get a divorce? Not one of my best days." Punk nodded to himself, "And hey, I know she's not exactly been my wife for eight years, but… I just… I still never thought that I'd be getting a divorce with her." He sighed to himself.

"Of course you didn't." Dean said, "But it's not a crazy thing for her to ask, that's all I'm saying."

"I know." Punk nodded, "I just always held out for us maybe one day working it out. I know it's a lot to ask after being gone for eight years and pushing her away." Punk nodded, "But it's April." He sighed as Dean nodded.

"She's gone through a lot too." Dean nodded, "Raising the girls hasn't been easy on her. You know that. And it's not like she's been able to move on. It keeps happening."

"Has she ever… was she dating or…" Punk looked at him.

"Don't ask questions you don't wanna know the answer to." Dean warned.

"So that's a yes." Punk nodded to himself.

"I don't think it was dating as such." Dean said, "Just something to take her mind off of things." He said, "I mean it was… eight long years."

"Yeah, I know." Punk sighed, "I know. It's just… it's weird. Thinking she was… with someone else." Punk shook his head as Dean nodded.

"Yeah, I know." Dean nodded, "When does she wanna file for divorce?"

"Well she said once Thea is better, and she's on a good path." Punk said as Dean nodded, "I just hate what I put them all through." He said, rubbing his hand over his face.

"You can't hate on yourself forever. I know that it's gonna be on your mind and you're gonna think… what if, what if I was here." Dean nodded, "But you just gotta live for today now. The past is the past."

"I just can't stand the thought of moving forward and not having a relationship with Thea." Punk said as Dean nodded, looking at his brother who appeared to be drying his tears.

"Hey, man." Dean sighed, putting his beer down and sitting over beside Punk, "I know this is the worst." Dean nodded, putting his arm around Punk who nodded.

He couldn't imagine how his brother was feeling. Even just the thought of spending eight years in a prison cell had Dean questioning his brother's mental health, and how hard this was on him. On all of them. He knew everything with Thea was really hurting him.

"I can't just give up on her." Punk shook his head with frustration, wiping his tears as Dean nodded.

"Of course not. No one is telling you to." Dean said, "I know it's gotta feel hopeless, but Thea's dealing with her own shit right now, some which has nothing to do with you really. You gotta let her figure that out." Dean nodded, rubbing his back softly, "It's gonna be ok." Dean sighed.

* * *

"Why did you do it?" Thea asked, standing in her bedroom whilst Jackson was sat on her bed, finding out that Thea knew it was him who went to the cops.

"It's not what you think." Jackson said, "I didn't… it wasn't anything to do with you, it wasn't really anything to do with your dad either." He shook his head as Thea looked at him.

"Then explain. Go on." Thea nodded.

"Well you were my best friend. I didn't know if you were in danger or if he was bringing that stuff home with him. And I thought if… if I told the cops then my mom wouldn't have suppliers anymore, which means she'd be able to get clean. She did get clean." Jackson nodded, "And then when you told me about you in the apartment with Sam, finding the drugs… I put it together and knew it was your dad keeping them there."

"So you thought going straight to the cops was the best thing you could come up with?" Thea asked, "You didn't think to tell me?"

"You were thirteen." Jackson shrugged, "Trust me, once I saw how badly affected you were, I regretted it, but then you got through all of that shit and I didn't, because you grew stronger because of it." He nodded.

"But I watched my dad get arrested in my own kitchen." Thea said, "And I cried to you about it, I opened up to you, only you… about it, and all along it was you who did it."

"I didn't do anything. Your dad is to blame, not me." Jackson made clear, "He was the drug dealer."

"You kept it from me all this time." Thea shook her head.

"Yeah because everyone was worried you'd fucking lose yourself again. That's why your mom and dad didn't tell you. You're a fucking liability." Jackson stood up.

"Excuse me?" Thea glared at him.

"Well it's true." Jackson said, "I didn't tell you, because you'd blame yourself and then you'd wanna go… do a line or I don't know, sleep with someone else's husband-"

Jackson got cut off as Thea slapped him hard across the face, "That has nothing to do with this."

"It has everything to do with this." Jackson massaged his stinging cheek as Thea looked at him, "Yeah, I felt like shit after it, but the way I see it, I got that drug business out of town. My mom got clean and so did a lot of others, probably-"

"And I lost my dad." Thea stared at him, "As your best friend, I thought that maybe… meant something to you."

"It did." Jackson said, "Seeing you so upset made me regret it all. I hated seeing you like that, and what you went through." He nodded, "But I won't sugercoat, your dad went to prison because he deserved it. Not because of me." He said as Thea shook her head.

"It's not even about you snitching on him. It's about you not telling me." Thea said, "What? Because I'm a liability?" She screwed her face up.

"Yeah, if we're being honest." Jackson nodded, "There was never a good time to tell you. You're always on the edge of something."

"Is that how you see me?" Thea looked at him, hurt, "Just some mess who always has something going on?"

"Of course it's not." Jackson said.

"Well it sounds like it." Thea shook her head, "You knew how much I loved my dad." She looked at him, "I remember you saying to me in school that you were jealous of my relationship with him." She said, "Is that why you did it? You wanted me to feel the same pain as you? Having no dad around?"

"Now you're being ridiculous." Jackson nodded.

"Well what am I supposed to think?" Thea asked, "You knew he was good to us-"

"And he was a drug dealer." Jackson said, "Why do you even care so much? It's not like you even want a relationship with him anyway."

"I still deserved to know it was you who got him arrested. It was… it was both of us. If I hadn't told you about the apartment then you… maybe they wouldn't have got him arrested and he'd… he would have been here." Thea said, in almost a dreamy voice.

"And you'd be living with a drug dealer for a father." Jackson nodded as Thea looked at him.

"I trusted you." Thea said, "Out of everyone and everything going on, you kept me going, you were there for me." Thea said, upset with tears in her eyes, "And all along you were behind it."

"If it wasn't me, it would have been someone else. He was playing with fire and got caught. That's on him. Not me." Jackson said, "Sounds to me like you still care." He nodded. Deep down he always knew, but he could see the desperation in her, the regret of opening up to him.

"This is about us. Not my dad." Thea made clear, "I should never have trusted you." She shook her head as Jackson rolled his eyes.

"I did it for your own good." Jackson said, "I did it for my mom. For myself." He said, "I was shooting up every week. Getting rid of your dad and those suppliers was the best thing that happened to me-"

"And the worst thing that happened to me." Thea said honestly, the first time she'd ever really admitted that out loud.

"You do fine without him." Jackson said.

"Oh, yeah. Sure." Thea laughed a little, "You know what I thought the entire time I was in hospital? After almost overdosing?" She asked him.

"What?" Jackson questioned.

"I want my dad." Thea nodded, tears running down her cheeks as Jackson looked at her, "There. I said it." She shrugged tearfully.

"Please… don't cry." Jackson sighed, walking over to her as she backed away and folded her arms, "Thea, I'm sorry. I was just a kid too. Like you. I was scared and… I wanted all my problems to go away. And thankfully they did. It was selfish and… yeah, I probably didn't think about how this would hurt you, but it just made me wanna be with you more, it made me love you more cause I got to see how strong you are." He nodded as Thea dried her eyes and shook her head.

"I don't want to see you." Thea shook her head as Jackson sighed.

"Thea-"

"I really don't." Thea said as Jackson sighed, "This is too much." She shook her head.

"You're pushing everyone away." Jackson shook his head.

"Yeah well maybe it's time I just depend on myself for a little while. But I don't know, I can be a liability." Thea nodded to him coldly.

"I didn't mean it that way. I'm just concerned about you." Jackson said, "Come on, let's just talk it through." He took her hand as she snatched her hand back.

"I don't want to talk about it." Thea shook her head, "I want you to leave." She said as Jackson looked at her, "And please don't come back." She nodded as Jackson looked at her and nodded slowly.

"Ok." Jackson nodded. He knew when she was being serious, and this was one of those times.

He left the bedroom whilst Thea sat down on her bed, crying to herself as she lay down on her bed, pulling the covers over her painfully, wishing nothing more than for all of this to stop.


	53. On My Own

**On My Own**

* * *

"_Ok, baby. I know. I know." AJ soothed, bringing Cassie out of her stroller as the three month old was crying loudly in the doctor's office waiting room. AJ presumed that she had an ear infection, and so had to take her to the doctor's immediately. The only problem in that was that she had no one else to watch her five year old and her thirteen year old._

"_She's so loud." Thea shook her head, sitting on her phone which kept bleeping._

"_Turn that on silent." AJ asked._

"_Mommy, how much longer do we have to wait?" Jude asked, sitting on the other side of AJ, swinging on the chair._

"_I don't know, baby." AJ said with stress, "Can you please stop swinging on that chair, you're gonna fall." AJ said, all whilst trying to soothe Cassie._

"_We've been here for so long." Jude said dramatically._

"_There's a waiting line, that's why." AJ told her, listening as Thea's phone kept going off, "Thea, turn the phone on silent." AJ turned to Thea who rolled her eyes._

"_Turn her on silent." Thea nodded to Cassie who was crying very loudly in AJ's arms, her tears and saliva dampening AJ's shoulder, "Babies are so disgusting." Thea shook her head as AJ rolled her eyes._

"_It's ok, baby." AJ sighed, patting Cassie's back softly, "I know." She kissed her little head softly._

"_I'm hungry." Jude huffed, folding her arms as AJ nodded. _

_There were times when she couldn't actually hear her own thoughts, especially as of late with a newborn baby. She physically couldn't keep up with all three of her children. Doing it on her own wasn't something she was ready for._

"_She just threw up on your shoulder." Thea noticed, looking on at her baby sister as AJ closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Otherwise she was so close to screaming._

"_Can you please get me a wipe from the bag." AJ said calmly as Thea nodded, standing up and digging into AJ's bag, taking out the wipes, "Can you wipe it for me?"_

"_It's sick." Thea said with disgust._

"_Please." AJ said seriously as Thea looked at her, nodding and sitting back down beside her as she cleaned her mother's shoulder as well as her baby sister's face. As soon as Cassie was cleaned up, she started screaming and crying again._

"_Stinks." Thea groaned as AJ nodded._

_Next thing AJ heard was Jude falling over beside her after swinging on the chair._

"_Ouch." Jude groaned, hurting her arm._

"_Jude." AJ sighed, "Are you ok?" She asked as Jude stood up and nodded._

"_I hurt my arm." Jude told her as AJ fixed the chair._

"_I told you to stop swinging on the chair." AJ shook her head, meanwhile looking around the room, noticing that everyone waiting was of course looking at them and all the noise they were making._

"_I wasn't swinging." Jude shook her head._

"_You were." AJ said, listening as Thea's phone kept bleeping, testing AJ's patience more and more, "Thea, I will throw that phone out the god damn window if you don't put it on silent." AJ said in a scary but quiet voice as Thea looked at her._

"_God, ok." Thea shook her head, turning the phone on silent whilst AJ had Cassie screaming in her ear, not settling at all._

"_I want to go home." Jude huffed, getting fed up._

"_It won't be much longer." AJ said, bouncing Cassie in her arms lightly, noticing the people around her in the waiting room drawing her dirty looks, as if they knew anything about her or what she was dealing with._

* * *

_Later that night, AJ didn't get the girls to bed until way past their bedtime. It wasn't until 9pm where she sat down for the first time all day. She'd spent hours in the doctors, waiting to see someone to check Cassie over and get some anti-biotics. The time ran past dinner time, and Cassie struggled to go down to sleep for the night with the pain from her ear infection. Not to mention Jude was playing up and Thea was like talking to a brick wall._

_She made her way into the kitchen, just going where her legs were taking her, sitting down at the kitchen table and taking a deep breath. It still didn't feel real that she was on her own now. She visited Punk every week, but it was still very apparent that she was now on her own on this journey. _

_She stood up and opened up the fridge, taking out the bottle from the fridge which she'd put in her shopping cart at the groceries earlier, where she had Cassie screaming in her carrier and Jude hanging onto the cart complaining about how hungry she was._

_She grabbed a glass and sit it down on the table, sitting down on the chair and staring at it._

_She then heard Dean come through the door._

"_April." Dean called._

"_Shh." AJ said. The last thing she needed right now was any of the girls waking up, especially poor little Cassie after the day she'd had._

"_Hey." Dean said, pausing a little when he saw a bottle of wine sitting on the table, "Uh… are you…" He didn't really know what to say, "You ok?" He asked her as AJ looked at him._

"_No." AJ shook her head, "No, I'm not." AJ said calmly as Dean looked at her, "Cassie has an ear infection. She's been crying all day pretty much." AJ nodded, "Jude doesn't listen to me. Thea doesn't talk to me." AJ nodded to herself, "And I can't even hear myself think." She said with frustration as Dean looked at her._

"_So you bought a bottle of wine?" Dean questioned._

"_I thought it could help." AJ shrugged, "That's how this stuff works, right?" She asked, taking the bottle of wine and looking at it. She'd never drank before. She never wanted to or needed to. She'd had cigarettes when she was younger, a teen, but she'd always lived a clean life._

"_Honestly, I don't think this is what you need right now, April." Dean said truthfully as AJ looked at him, "It's not gonna make things better. Believe me, I know." He nodded._

"_Could help for a few hours." AJ nodded to herself._

"_You don't wanna depend on that stuff to get you through." Dean shook his head, "I can't imagine how you're feeling. It sucks enough that I… I lost my brother but, you've lost your husband. Father of your kids. I know that doing this on your own is hard." He nodded, "But if you can't find some way to carry on for yourself, do it for the girls." He said as AJ nodded._

"_I just feel like I don't know who I am anymore. I'm just going around in circles, listening to Cassie crying, making up lunches, doing the school run, bathing and putting them to bed." AJ said, "I used to love all of that stuff, and it was because I got to do it with Phil." AJ realised, "Now I feel like I don't have enough hours in the day."_

"_I know." Dean sighed, sitting down across from her, "Me and Renee will take the girls for a night. They can come stay over at the house tomorrow, I'll pick them up from school." He said, "You take a night to yourself. Get Cassie down and get an early night."_

"_Thank you." AJ nodded gratefully. Little things like that felt like winning the lottery at this point. _

"_You aren't alone." Dean assured her, "We're here to help. I know you'd rather Phil but… we gotta somehow keep going." He nodded._

"_I just can't believe this is going to be it." AJ shook her head, "For at least another eight years. Just me and the girls in this house." She sighed as Dean nodded, "I miss just talking to him. Even if it's about stupid things. I miss hearing his voice in here." She shook her head, "And I honestly underestimated how hard it was to go out with all three of the girls. I was grocery shopping earlier and Cassie was screaming, Jude was hanging from the shopping cart and Thea was trailing behind ignoring me." AJ said, "It's just so much."_

"_I know." Dean nodded, "But you'll get through it." He said with confidence._

"_I just dread to know how things are gonna be in eight years." AJ shook her head, "How the girls are gonna be without their dad. Thea knows that he's gonna be gone for a while. She's not talking to me about it. Jude still asks why he's not around the house and why we have to go to the weird room to go see him. Cassie's… she's never gonna know him." She sighed to herself, running her hands over her face._

_Dean knew AJ was more concerned about her girls than herself. It was just who she was, and he could understand why. He just didn't want her to disregard her own feelings._

"_Look, it sucks, I'm not gonna lie to you. You know this sucks, and it's horrible, and yeah maybe that bottle of wine would help you forget about how hard it is right now." Dean nodded, "But that's not you."_

"_I know." AJ whispered. She wasn't going to drink the wine, it was in the moment she just felt like she needed something to help her, but sitting down and staring at it… she knew it wasn't the answer. She knew this wasn't going to help her or her daughters._

"_We're all here for you. You take a night to yourself tomorrow. Get Cassie down and then… do what you want, eat some cake, have a bath, watch a movie or get a pizza… just enjoy the peace for a night." Dean encouraged as AJ nodded with a smile._

"_Thanks, Dean." AJ nodded to him._

"_We'll get through it." Dean nodded to her._

_Right now she needed support and help. She wasn't scared to admit that. _

_She stood up and opened the bottle of wine, pouring it down the sink and sighing to herself as Dean frowned. _


	54. Trying

**Trying**

* * *

"You're up early." AJ noticed, walking into the kitchen where Thea was sitting having breakfast and appearing to be studying.

"I have an exam." Thea nodded, "I have to leave in ten minutes."

"I thought you were taking them at a later date." AJ shook her head, pouring herself some coffee that Thea had already made.

"No, I just wanna do them right now." Thea said.

"Are you prepared?" AJ questioned.

"Nope." Thea smiled, looking at some books, "None of this makes any sense to me." Thea said with a smile as AJ nodded, "Failing an exam is the least of my worries right now anyway."

"Did you talk to Jackson last night? I heard him leaving." AJ said as Thea nodded.

"I talked to him. We broke up." Thea said, "And I… don't really wanna talk about it." Thea admitted as AJ nodded, respecting that wish.

Thea kept replaying it over and over in her head, everything he had to say to her, him choosing to call her a liability, the truth he'd kept from her all this time whilst she cried to him about losing her father. It was all a little too much. She woke up with the biggest headache after crying herself to sleep.

"Is an exam the best thing for you to do right now?" AJ asked.

"Honestly, I think it is." Thea said, "Unless you want me to stay here all day, wishing I was getting drunk somewhere?" Thea questioned as AJ scoffed and looked at her with disapproval.

"Go to your exam." AJ nodded.

"That's what I thought." Thea said.

"Your AA meeting is tonight." AJ said, "It's in the town hall. I can come with you if you like."

"I'm twenty-one." Thea shook her head, "I can go on my own. And you can drop me off and watch me walk in to make sure I'm not really getting wasted at some pub." She said as AJ looked at her.

"If you want me to come, I can come. It doesn't matter what age you are. Nothing wrong with support." AJ made clear.

"I can go on my own." Thea assured her, watching as Jude came into the kitchen.

"Mom is my lunch there?" Jude asked as AJ nodded.

"Here, baby. Made it last night." AJ nodded, passing Jude her lunch over, "And this is Cassie's."

"We're gonna walk to school. It's a nice day." Jude said.

"You're taking your sister?" AJ smiled.

"Do I have a choice?" Jude scoffed as AJ smiled.

"Oh, learn to love it." AJ said, kissing Jude's cheek sweetly as Jude shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Jude, I'm gonna get pizza later." Thea said, turning around to Jude, "You wanna get our usual?" She smiled as Jude stared at her.

"Me and Cassie are going to the movies with dad." Jude said bluntly, "We'll eat with him. We're staying at his new apartment tonight." She made clear as Thea nodded slowly.

"Ok." Thea nodded.

"Get the usual with Jackson." Jude said, "Oh wait…" She teased.

"Jude, that's enough." AJ warned, "Go on, get out of here." AJ shooed her away before a fight broke out in the kitchen whilst Thea turned around to her books at the table, "You know she's just hurting from her birthday-"

"Yeah, I know." Thea nodded.

"She'll come round." AJ nodded, rubbing Thea's back softly, "When you get back from your AA meeting, I'll get pizza with you." AJ said as Thea nodded and smiled.

* * *

"I liked that movie." Cassie nodded, taking Punk's hand as they walked out of the movies.

Punk had sat through a two hour Disney cartoon, and he enjoyed every second of it. Cassie of course picked the movie out, and he was so happy he got to spend some time with both her and Jude, and having them stay with him at his new place was even more exciting.

"I did too." Punk smiled, "I do like my fair share of cartoons." He admitted.

"Cartoons are my favourite." Cassie nodded, holding his hand tightly as Punk smiled. It meant so much. Getting to pick his kids up from school, getting to spend this time with them. Eight years of being kept from them in this sort of environment really made him appreciate the little things.

"You enjoy it?" Punk asked Jude with a smile.

"Obviously." Jude smiled, "Best movie I've seen all year." She exaggerated as Punk smiled.

"We'll go see that horror one another time. Little one wants, little one gets." He nodded to Cassie who was having fun walking down the street, looking around.

"Don't I already know that." Jude smiled as Punk wrapped his arm around her, kissing her head as Jude smiled. She couldn't see her father in any other light than good. Even after her mother telling her everything about him, to her, he was still the dad she grew up loving and waiting for. And Cassie, she got to know Punk without all the drama, and that had to be the best.

"So what's for dinner? You're paying, right?" He asked Cassie who giggled.

"No, I don't have any money." Cassie said seriously as Punk smiled.

"Ok ok, but you're paying next time." Punk nodded, "What you girls fancy?" He asked them, looking ahead and groaning to himself when he spotted a familiar, unpleasant face.

"Shaun of the dead." Hamilton chuckled, standing in the way on the sidewalk as Punk rolled his eyes, "It's been a while."

"It has." Punk nodded, "As much as I'd love to catch up with you, we're all hungry." Punk said as Hamilton nodded, looking at Jude and Cassie who weren't really paying attention to him.

"Your girls are all grown up." Hamilton nodded, "I met the oldest one a few nights ago."

"I heard." Punk nodded.

"Shame she turned out that way." Hamilton said as Punk dropped Cassie's hand, clenching both his fists, "I predicted that the moment I brought her home to you. I said to myself… now that, that is Phil Brooks' daughter alright."

"You must get so tired. So bored." Punk shook his head, "You'd think by now that you'd move on. You're retired now, go pick up a hobby, do a sport, go walking… just stop thinking about me and my family. It's getting kinda weird now." Punk admitted as Hamilton smiled and nodded.

"Well, you always seem to pop up somehow." Hamilton said, "And your daughter certainly makes her presence known in a room. She could barely stand when I saw her." He shook his head.

"Stay out of my family's business." Punk made clear.

"I don't know what you expect." Hamilton laughed, "Poor girl."

"C'mon girls." Punk nodded to Cassie and Jude, walking around Hamilton who shouted.

"You and April are the reason she's a junkie. Nothing else." Hamilton shouted as Punk stopped in his tracks. Jude picked up on it and looked over at Hamilton with confusion, whilst Cassie wasn't paying attention at all.

"Let's… let's just go." Jude nodded, getting worried as Punk turned around, looking across at Hamilton who smiled.

"What is it she takes? The hard stuff? Cocaine?" Hamilton asked as Punk punched him across the face, spearing him down onto the ground and striking him on the face as Jude immediately stood in front of Cassie, distracting her little sister whilst locals came out to break up the very messy and ugly fight that was going on.

* * *

Thea got out of college later on that day, leaving the campus and getting into her car. She never thought she'd ever be leaving college for the day and heading to an AA meeting, but that was where her life was at. A point where if she didn't go to the AA meeting, she'd be going out for a drink instead, and that's where she knew the problem was.

She'd been to rehab before, she knew the drill, but she'd never gone on her own, which was a little more terrifying. She was never one for sharing anyway, but sharing about the parts of herself that she hated the most, that was a challenge. Way more challenging than any college exam she'd take.

She headed to the town hall and walked on in, signing a form and slowly walking into the small hall where she of course was late, noticing people sitting in a circle already.

"Sorry." Thea shook her head as she watched them all look at her.

"That's ok. Come in, take a seat." The man who she assumed was holding the meeting said, welcoming her in with a wave of his hand as Thea walked on in, taking a seat in the circle and putting her bag down beside her as she looked around the room.

It was very apparent that she was the youngest person in the room, and that didn't comfort her.

"We were just introducing ourselves." The man nodded to Thea, "I'm Tyler." He smiled as Thea nodded, "You are?"

"Thea." Thea nodded.

"Tell us a little bit about yourself." Tyler nodded as Thea looked across at him, smiling a little as she looked around the circle.

"I had no idea that this was how these meetings actually went." Thea laughed a little, showing he age compared to the rest of them of course, "Sorry, I just… the circle." She laughed a little, noticing one younger man smiling to himself.

"Easier to see everyone." Tyler nodded.

"Right." Thea agreed, "Uh… I'm twenty-one. I know… poor me." She nodded to them all. When she was nervous, she tended to make inappropriate jokes. Ones she'd groan about later on when she'd be trying to fall asleep.

"I study medicine at college. I still don't know if I want to be a doctor or a pharmacist. I personally don't think I should be either because of how much I love all the drugs." Thea nodded, looking around the circle as everyone just stared at her, "Ok." She nodded to herself awkwardly.

"Thank you, Thea." Tyler nodded awkwardly as Thea nodded, fidgeting with her hands nervously and taking a deep breath. It was crazy to her that this scared her more than the dangers of alcohol and drugs. This was the scariest part of it all, but facing it really made her feel proud of herself. She just wished it was a permanent cure.


	55. Weakness

**Weakness**

* * *

"You shouldn't have done that." Jude shook her head, standing in the kitchen with Punk after they got home. He was a little banged and bruised up, but it wasn't the worst he'd looked after a fight, thankfully.

"I know." Punk nodded, washing his face at the sink.

"Why didn't you just keep walking?" Jude shook her head.

"I don't know." Punk said, "He pissed me off."

"What if he goes to the police? He's retired but it doesn't mean he won't get what he wants. You assaulted him-"

"It's fine." Punk assured her.

"It's not fine, actually." Jude stared across at him as he looked at her, "Don't things like that make you think? About the consequences? About us?" Jude asked him, "Doesn't it occur to you that what you do affects not only yourself but us? You could get done for assault, dad." Jude said. She wasn't taking this lightly.

"I'm not gonna get done for assault." Punk said calmly.

"You could." Jude said, "You gonna live in denial? How hard was it to just keep walking?"

"You heard what he said." Punk said, "He's a bad person."

"So you drop down to his level? Just walk away, it's not… it's not hard." Jude shook her head.

"You're fifteen, ok? I don't need advice from a fifteen year old." Punk shook his head. Of course it was embarrassing to get told off by his younger daughter. Very embarrassing. But he knew she had every right to call him out.

"Yeah, exactly. I don't know if Sam taught you to fight your way out of everything, but my mom taught me to walk away." Jude said.

"Well good for you, Jude. I'm glad you got everything figured out. I'm happy for you." Punk nodded as Jude glared at him.

"Don't come at me because you fucked up." Jude said.

"You heard what he said, what was I supposed to do?" Punk questioned.

"You're supposed to realise that me and Cassie were standing there and you should have just continued to walk away. You're lucky Cassie never saw any of it." Jude said, "And mom is gonna kill you."

"Well then don't tell her." Punk compromised as Jude looked at him, "Jude, come on… give me a break." Punk sighed to himself, "That guy has been breathing down my neck since I was your age-"

"Well, with all do respect, he had reasons." Jude said as Punk looked at her, "This is why Thea doesn't want you in her life. You realise that, right?"

"What the hell do you mean?" Punk shook his head.

"You don't think. You're so impulsive. You just do things and then the consequences come flooding in later and we're the ones who suffer. Thea told me… she told me that she reckons you'll go back to prison at one point. And I… I didn't believe her." Jude said.

"And now you do?" Punk asked as Jude just stayed silent, not saying anything.

"I think I'm gonna take Cassie home." Jude said.

"Why?" Punk looked at her, watching her as she just left the kitchen.

"Cassie, come on, we're going home." Jude announced, walking into the living room where Cassie was watching TV.

"Why?" Cassie frowned as Jude passed her jacket over to her, "I want to stay here."

"No, we're going." Jude nodded, helping her put her jacket on as Cassie frowned.

"I thought we were having dinner with dad." Cassie sighed.

"No, we're gonna go have dinner with mom." Jude nodded, zipping Cassie's jacket up, taking her hand and walking out of the living room.

"I have to say bye." Cassie said, running into the kitchen where Punk was sat at the kitchen table, "Jude is taking me home." Cassie said as Punk looked up, noticing Cassie standing at the door.

"Y-Yeah, that's ok… I… you can stay another time." Punk smiled softly as Cassie nodded, running over to him, climbing onto his knee and giving him a hug as Punk smiled to himself, hugging her back tightly.

"Come on, Cassie." Jude said, standing at the door as Punk looked over.

Cassie jumped down from Punk, running over to Jude who stared over at Punk who just looked at her apologetically. She had every right to be mad at him, he was mad at him. He wasn't sure that after forty years, he could change the person he was.

* * *

"That's a lot of cake."

Thea heard a voice beside her, turning around as she saw a younger guy standing beside her whilst she took some cake from the stand at the AA meeting.

"Free cake." Thea nodded, "I can't pass on it."

"Clearly." The young guy chuckled, "I'm Dominic." He said as Thea nodded.

"I heard. When we were all introducing ourselves." Thea said.

"Right." Dominic nodded, "Pretty lame, huh?"

"Yeah. If there's going to be anything that makes me wanna drink, it's this." Thea shook her head as Dominic chuckled.

"Someone making you come?" Dominic asked.

"My mom." Thea nodded, "She thinks it might help to meet other people who are going through the same thing." She shrugged.

"Yeah, my brother made me come here." Dominic said as Thea nodded.

"How long have you been drinking?" Thea asked him.

"Few years." Dominic said, "You?"

"Few months." Thea said, "It's gotten pretty bad lately."

"Few months is pretty good. People go years without getting help." Dominic said.

"I was more concentrated on the cocaine for a couple years before." Thea nodded casually as Dominic raised his eyebrows.

"Oh." Dominic nodded as Thea looked at him, "Right… I-"

"I didn't murder a puppy." Thea laughed a little.

"You're just… you're so young." Dominic shook his head as Thea nodded.

"Well it's not been the best few years for me." Thea nodded, "Because of the cocaine." She said, looking at him as he nodded awkwardly, "Cocaine. Cocaine." Thea said deliberately, "Maybe the more I say it, the less tight your shoulders will get." She nodded as Dominic laughed a little, "Cocaine." Thea raised her eyebrows as Dominic smiled.

"You're crazy." Dominic nodded.

"Maybe." Thea said, "But I'd hate to be boring." She shook her head, reaching for another piece of cake as Dominic chuckled.

"Clearly, given you have five different pieces of cake on your plate." Dominic said.

"If I gotta come talk to strangers about how I have no self-control, they may as well see it up close and personal." Thea nodded as Dominic smiled.

"I like your thinking." Dominic nodded, taking a plate and picking some cake up as Thea smiled.

* * *

"Open up!" AJ yelled, banging on Punk's apartment door as Punk closed his eyes and groaned to himself, "Right now!" AJ yelled, banging on the door.

Punk walked on out into the hallway, opening up the door as AJ looked at him, noticing the cuts and bruises on his face, "Calm down." Punk said as AJ stormed past him and into the kitchen as he closed the door over.

"I can't believe you!" AJ yelled as Punk leaned against the door, running his hands over his hair.

"He was talking shit about Thea. You'd do the same." Punk said calmly, walking into the kitchen as AJ looked up at him.

"No… no, I'd keep walking. By now you should know that he says these things to get this exact response out of him. He's the one that always gets the last laugh." AJ said, "Haven't you learned that by now?" She shook her head, "And to do it in front of Cassie and Jude?" She screwed her face up.

"I'm sorry." Punk nodded, "I just lost it when he said those things. It's who I am. Come at the people I love, I'll come back at you… don't act like you're surprised at a damn thing I've done in my entire life. You know me." He said as AJ looked at him.

"I thought you would have changed, I thought that consequences to your actions would mean a little more to you now." AJ said, "You could get arrested for assault. I'm sure there were plenty of people who saw it-"

"I won't get arrested. It'll be fine." Punk nodded.

"Just like it was fine when you were dealing for Marina?" AJ questioned.

"Don't bring that into it. I was doing that shit for you. For your fucking parents who dumped all of this shit on us and then fucked off again." Punk said, "So don't bring that into it." He warned her.

"Well forgive us all for being a little paranoid that you end up out of our lives for another eight years." AJ said, "Jude came home crying. That girl rarely cries." AJ made it clear, "She thinks you're gonna get arrested."

"I told her I wasn't, I talked to her-"

"Your actions don't just affect you anymore, Phil." AJ said, "They affect all of us."

"I know that. Don't you think I know that?" Punk questioned.

"Then why are you beating on people in the street then? Walk away! It's easy-"

"It's not easy for me." Punk said, "Not everyone sees things the way you do, April." He shook his head, "I spent the past eight years in prison. I had to fight." He spat as AJ looked at him, "I had to defend myself. And I will always defend my family. You know that so don't… don't act surprised." He rolled his eyes.

"My concern is my daughter's. And what you do, affects them, and when you have them worrying, crying… don't you be surprised at me coming here. You know me." She mirrored his words as he nodded.

"Just call me a bad dad and leave." Punk nodded to her.

"I'm not calling you a bad dad. I'm asking you think before you react." AJ said, "For the sake of your kids."

"You're telling me you wouldn't react to someone saying that it's our fault Thea has… it's our fault that she got addicted to drugs… and drink?" Punk asked as AJ looked at him.

"No, because I know that's not true." AJ said, "Did you react because you think it is true?" She questioned as Punk glared at her.

"Get out." Punk nodded, "Just go."

"You think it's our fault?" AJ asked him.

"No. I think it's my fault." Punk said, "So yeah, maybe that's why I reacted." He said as AJ looked at him, "Because yeah, maybe I do feel responsible."

"You're not responsible." AJ shook her head as Punk looked at her, placing his hands on the kitchen table and bowing his head as AJ looked at him.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "I am." He said.

"Not everything is your fault." AJ said as Punk kept his head bowed as she looked over at him, sighing to herself as she walked over to him, placing his hand on his arm, "Phil." She sighed as he turned to her.

He looked across at her as she stared up at him, a long pause between the two with no words, just staring. AJ watched as he stepped in closer to her, looking up at him as she watched him lean down, pressing his lips against hers as every bone in her body froze.

Everything froze, but not her lips. She felt his hands on her waist, kissing her slowly as she kissed back, losing her bearings for a hot second, quickly pulling back suddenly, angrily slapping him across the face as he raised his eyebrows.

"Don't manipulate me." AJ spat as Punk held his cheek, looking down at her, watching as she stormed off out of the kitchen.

AJ walked off to the front door, opening it up and pausing for a second, still feeling his lips on hers, his hands on her waist and his body close. Of course she missed it. She'd craved it for eight years, to feel that again was mind numbing almost.

Punk sighed to himself, standing in the kitchen and listening as the door banged close, running his hands through his hair. All he wanted was to feel her close again, to have that support he always cherished from her. He'd never felt more alone in his entire life.

He took a deep breath, walking out of the kitchen and pausing when he saw AJ still standing, staring across at him. She walked towards him, her hands reaching out for him as she cupped his face, crashing her lips against his as he stumbled back against the wall.

He picked her up, her legs circling around his waist like they used to do. She pulled at his t-shirt as she let him pull it off him, their lips going back to one another immediately whilst Punk leaned her against the fridge, running his fingers through her hair as she gasped into his mouth.

His lips wandered from her lips down her neck as she cupped the back of his head, rolling her head back as she dug her nails into his shoulder.

He pulled at her t-shirt as she lifted her arms, letting him pull it off of her, feeling his lips back on her neck and down her collarbone. She was overwhelmed by the feeling of his skin, his touch and his lips.

For both of them, it was like time had stopped, and it was just them. Everything else around them disappeared, and in their own heads it was just this moment. All the self-control in the world couldn't get either of them to stop now.

"Fuck." Punk moaned, feeling himself get painfully hard as AJ undone his jeans and pushed them down with her feet.

He lifted her over onto the kitchen counter, her head accidentally banging against one of the top cupboards.

"Sorry." Punk groaned as she just chuckled, pushing her jeans and panties down, pulling him into her open legs.

She watched as he pushed his boxers down just enough to release his length. Neither wanted it slow and steady. This was a want. A need. Eight years of it.

Punk stroked his length up and down her slit, feeling how wet she was and groaning to himself as she smiled.

"Do it." AJ begged, wanting nothing more as she leaned her head back on the cupboard, feeling him slide inside of her as she gasped, "Fuck." She moaned, biting her lip as Punk moaned out, leaning his forehead on her shoulder. Eight years was a long time.

"Holy shit." Punk moaned as she smiled, tilting his head up to look at her as she nodded, pressing her lips against his and wrapping her arms and legs around him, wanting to feel him close.

She moaned as he began moving inside of her, thrusting into her, banging her up against the cupboard door as she felt him kissing her neck, cupping the back of his head and running her hands down his back, the thrusts moving her entire body, making her come alive.

"Fuck." AJ moaned, moaning loudly as he kissed her neck, cupping her face and looking into her eyes as she moaned whilst looking at him, his hip bones crashing against hers.

He pressed his lips against hers, his hand pressing against the cupboard door, thrusting into her as he felt her legs wrap around his waist tightly. Just feeling her with him in this moment was enough to make him lose himself. It wasn't something either could describe. Eight years didn't change the feelings deep down, in the very core of both of them.


	56. Good Times

**Good Times**

* * *

"This was a mistake." AJ shook her head, putting her t-shirt on as Punk ran his hand through his hair, leaning against the fridge as he done his jeans up, looking around the kitchen for his t-shirt.

"Really?" Punk questioned as AJ nodded, barely allowed herself to look at him as he watched her crouch down to tie her laces.

"Yes. Really." AJ said immediately.

"Didn't sound like you thought it was a mistake." Punk said as AJ looked up at him with a slight glare.

"It was just… I got carried away." AJ shook her head. In the moment, she was in absolute heaven, by far the best she'd felt in eight years. But after the high surely passed her, she couldn't help but feel trapped, like she was destined to always give in, and giving in meant getting close, and getting close meant possibly hurting again if things went wrong. And she was so scarred from the past eight years, that it was impossible for her to let herself go there with him.

"Please don't be mad at yourself for this." Punk said, picking his t-shirt off the floor, still a little out of breath, "April." He said as she stood up.

"This shouldn't have happened." AJ said, "I came over here to…" She paused, "I was mad at you." She shook her head. She was aware that she still had so much love for him, otherwise, this wouldn't have happened, she wouldn't have still felt these strong urges for him.

"You don't need to be scared of me." Punk assured her, "Scared of being with me." He rephrased as AJ shook her head.

"I don't want to be with you." AJ made clear. Putting it out there helped her try to accept it, even after what she'd just done.

"I thought otherwise just there." Punk nodded.

"Everyone can lose themselves every now and then." AJ said, "This… it doesn't change anything." She said. Her back was immediately back up against the wall. Accepting this, accepting the love she still had for him, meant laying her heart back on the line again, and she was just too emotionally scarred for that. She promised herself she wouldn't allow herself to get hurt like that again. Or lose so much.

"I know you. You don't let that guard down unless you have feelings." Punk said.

"You know I have feelings for you." AJ said, "I told you, that's not gonna go away… how we are as people, though… that's changed in the past eight years-"

"Didn't feel different to me just there." He said.

"That was different. That was us being stupid and… selfish." AJ shook her head.

"Selfish?" Punk shook his head with confusion, "As much as this is about our children, this is also about us too. We've been together since we were sixteen. Losing you was just as hard as losing my kids. You know that, right?" He said as she nodded.

"I know that." AJ said, "But it doesn't change how I feel. I can't go there again with you… I don't want to." She shook her head as he looked at her, "I'm sorry, I have to go." AJ shook her head, walking off out of the kitchen.

"April." Punk sighed, listening to her walking down the hall, opening the front door and leaving as he sighed to himself.

Having her so close to him again was truly like heaven, after all this time. He just hated that the years that had gone by were too overpowering against them.

* * *

AJ got home after driving away from Punk's apartment with a cloudy mind. She was lost for words almost. Getting to feel him in that way again was bliss. In that moment, she was herself again, she could let herself go, she could trust him and be his again. But then the ecstasy cleared from her mind, and the reality sunk in.

She got out of the car and headed into the house, closing the door behind her and taking a deep breath.

She walked on into the kitchen where Jude and Cassie were having pizza, "Hey." AJ smiled sweetly. Seeing her girls was her reality. Her heart didn't want to be broken again, not after the pain it caused her last time.

"You were gone for a while." Jude noted.

"Yeah, I just… we were talking." AJ nodded, "You got pizza?" She smiled.

"Yeah, do you want some?" Cassie asked her mother.

"No, baby I'm actually gonna go for a shower." AJ smiled, "Has your sister came home yet?"

"Yeah." Jude nodded bluntly, "She's in her room having pizza, I didn't want her to sit with us." Jude shrugged.

"Jude." AJ scoffed, "You have to talk to her at one point."

"No I don't." Jude said as AJ frowned.

"You ok?" AJ asked her. She had been extremely upset earlier after coming home from father's. It was why AJ had gone storming over to Punk's place in the first place. She hated to see any of her children upset.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Jude shrugged.

"She's not crying anymore because we have pizza." Cassie said as AJ smiled.

"I see." AJ said, "Well you guys enjoy, I'm gonna go have a shower." She nodded, leaving the kitchen and heading upstairs.

She knocked on Thea's room door, walking on in where she saw her sitting on her bed eating pizza and watching the TV.

"Hey." Thea smiled.

"Hey." AJ replied, "I hear you got kicked out of the kitchen."

"Yeah." Thea nodded, "Where were you?" She asked.

"I was… at your dad's. Just talking to him about something." AJ waved her hand, "How did the meeting go?"

"I can't tell if I disliked it or hated it." Thea said as AJ nodded to herself.

"Well I wasn't putting my hopes on you loving it." AJ said, "You think it could help?"

"I don't know. It was one meeting." Thea shrugged, "It's hard to say."

"I'm real proud of you for going." AJ nodded as Thea smiled. She was too modest to admit that it did feel good to take a step forward instead of five steps back.

"Thanks." Thea nodded.

"You heard from Jackson?" AJ asked her.

"No, he's probably avoiding me." Thea shrugged, "I don't really wanna talk to him right now." She said, "Fed up having to depend on people." She shook her head.

"Focus on yourself." AJ nodded, "Boyfriends will fall into place after." She smiled.

"Jude still isn't talking to me." Thea said, "Don't know what I'm supposed to do. I've apologised and apologised."

"She'll come round." AJ nodded, "Just give her more time." She said.

"Why were you at dad's again?" Thea asked with confusion, "I thought Jude was supposed to be staying with him but when I asked her she ignored me."

"Your dad just… he got into a fight and Jude got mad and upset-"

"He got into a fight?" Thea questioned as AJ nodded.

"It's ok, he's fine-"

"In front of Jude and Cassie?" Thea asked.

"Yeah, but it's ok. I spoke to him." AJ nodded, trying not to think about the fact she didn't just speak to him, "Remember… you're focusing on yourself." She said as Thea nodded slowly.

"I just don't want him to let Jude or Cassie down." Thea said, "It worries me."

"He won't. He cares about them so much." AJ sighed to herself, "He's just… his own worst enemy. You two have that in common." AJ nodded as Thea scoffed.

"I'm glad he gave me all his bad qualities." Thea nodded.

"They're not all bad. Trust me." AJ smiled, "I'm gonna go for a shower." She said as Thea nodded.

AJ left the room and headed into her own bedroom. It eased her mind so much knowing Thea had gone to her AA meeting tonight. She could tell that it made her feel better already, and she just hoped and prayed she would continue to go, and continue to take her health seriously. She wanted nothing but the best for all her children. Sometimes that overshadowed the things she wanted, and she'd learned to accept that over the years.

But after where she'd just come from, what she'd just done, she couldn't help feel consumed by what she wanted, deep down. Because without all the bad, she knew they still had the good.

* * *

"_April, why are you still here? It's your birthday." AJ's boss walked past her desk as AJ looked up._

"_I'm just… finishing up some emails." AJ smiled politely. The first few years at her job had been a lot of coffee runs, secretary work and basically doing what people told her, but slowly but surely she was getting a lot more freedom, and her boss was great enough to help her too._

"_Get yourself out of this office and go celebrate your birthday." AJ's boss scoffed._

"_I'm just logging off just now." AJ smiled, "I'm… I'm thirty today." AJ shook her head to herself as her boss, Sarah, looked over._

"_I'd love to be thirty again." Sarah smiled as AJ nodded slowly._

"_It's kinda scary." AJ nodded, "Saying goodbye to my twenties." She shook her head._

"_Is it a good goodbye or a sad goodbye?" Sarah asked._

"_Both I think." AJ nodded, "I mean there's a lot of stuff I want to leave in my twenties but… a lot of good things happened too." AJ said._

"_Then celebrate the good." Sarah smiled, "Always celebrate the good." She nodded as AJ smiled, "I'll see you tomorrow." She nodded, walking off down the office as AJ got her things together to leave._

_She drove home and got out of the car, taking all of her paper work with her as she struggled her way into the house, "Phil!" AJ called for some help, kicking her shoes off at the door. _

_She shook her head with confusion as she noticed the kitchen in darkness, with the house eerily quiet._

_She dumped her paper work on the bottom stair, throwing her keys into the pot and strolling into the living room, turning the light on and jumping out of her skin when members of her family jumped out from behind the couches and the doors._

"_Oh my God!" AJ placed her hand on her chest. _

"_Happy birthday!" Dean yelled, pulling a party popper in AJ's face whilst four year old Jude ran over to AJ._

"_Happy birthday, mommy!" Jude smiled._

"_Hey." AJ laughed, lifting her up, getting the best hug as those little arms wrapped around her tightly._

"_It's your birthday." Jude smiled excitedly as AJ nodded_

"_It is." AJ laughed, cupping her cheek, "Did daddy dress you today?" AJ asked, questioning the Ramone's t-shirt she was in._

"_No, I dressed myself." Jude said proudly as AJ smiled._

"_I love it." AJ nodded, putting her down._

"_Happy birthday." 10 year old Thea ran over to her, "I made this for you in school." She said, handing her over a handmade card as AJ smiled, opening it up._

"_I love the glitter." AJ smiled, looking at the card with a large smile. Little things like this from her children meant the most to her, "Baby, I love this." AJ nodded as Thea gave her a big hug, hugging her back tightly and kissing her head, suddenly feeling a pair of arms wrap around her from behind as she chuckled._

"_Happy birthday." Punk kissed her cheek as AJ smiled._

"_What is all of this?" AJ asked, cupping his cheek from behind before turning around to face him._

"_It's us celebrating thirty years of you." Punk smiled._

"_I thought I told you about how much I don't want to turn thirty." AJ looked up at him._

"_I know you did but unfortunately you have to. It's happening." Punk nodded as she smiled, "And any day to celebrate the existence of my wife is a good day to me." He smiled as AJ cupped his cheek._

"_You're sweet." AJ nodded._

"_Just for you." Punk whispered, leaning in and kissing her softly as she kissed back, pulling back and smiling, "Go open your presents." He winked as AJ smiled excitedly, running over to the coffee table as Punk watched her with a smile as she embraced Dean and Renee, chuckling as he spotted Thea and Jude trying to sneak a peek into the presents. Today, every day, he was grateful or his amazing wife._


	57. Over

**Over**

* * *

"So you came back?" Dominic asked as Thea turned around, standing pouring herself a coffee after another AA meeting the following week.

"Looks like it." Thea nodded to him, "Nothing better to do on a Thursday night clearly." She said as Dominic smiled, watching her as she looked for the milk.

"Here." Dominic passed the jug to her as Thea smiled.

"Thanks." Thea said, "I just wish everything wasn't so doom and gloom here. Even the hall is boring." She looked around, "If people gotta come open up about how fucked up they feel, they should at least brighten the place up a bit." She shook her head as Dominic nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I agree. Doesn't really invite you in, does it?" He said, looking around as Thea shook her head.

"My little sister is super creative. She could definitely cheer this place up." Thea nodded.

"You just got one sister?" Dominic asked her, pouring himself his own coffee as Thea handed him back the jug.

"I got two." Thea said, "One is fifteen and one is eight." She nodded.

"Oh, really?" Dominic raised his eyebrows, "That's a big gap. Different parents?" He asked her.

"No, same parents." Thea nodded, "My mom and dad had me young." She said as Dominic nodded, "You got any siblings?"

"Just my older brother." Dominic said, "I grew up with my aunt. My parents died when I was young in a car accident."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Thea shook her head.

"I didn't really know them so… it doesn't weigh me down." Dominic said, "My aunt has pretty much been my mom."

"It's good you had someone." Thea smiled as Dominic nodded.

"Your parents still together?" Dominic asked as Thea looked at him, starting to get a little uncomfortable.

"Uh… no, they're not." Thea shook her head as Dominic watched her.

"Sorry, I'm… I'm being too forward." Dominic shook his head.

"No, not at all." Thea said, "This is the room of sharing after all." She said as Dominic smiled, "I just… I gotta deal with it myself before I talk to anyone else about it." She nodded.

"Sure." Dominic nodded, "I understand." He said as Thea smiled, reaching over for a graham cracker.

"So do you work?" Thea asked him.

"I did but… I got fired from my last job. I was never showing up so they had every right." Dominic said, "I was a sales manager."

"Oh, God." Thea chuckled a little.

"What?" Dominic smiled, amused.

"Someone who can outtalk me? I don't like it." Thea teased as Dominic smiled.

"Yeah, I don't think I'm gonna go back to that type of job anyway." Dominic said, "I've been working with my brother on and off. He's got his own electrician company. It's a lot less stressful."

"I bet." Thea nodded.

"And you're studying medicine, right?" Dominic asked.

"Yeah, boring I know." Thea said.

"Boring? More like smart as hell." Dominic nodded as Thea looked at him with a small smile, "Must have been tough to get into a course like that."

"It was, but it's what I was interested in." Thea nodded, "It's super cool actually. I'm leaning more towards pharmacy than being a doctor." She said.

"When do you graduate?" He asked.

"Not for another two years." Thea said, "I got time to think about it."

"That's good." Dominic nodded, "So you're at college during the week?"

"Yeah, I'm doing my exams right now. Which… I'll probably fail and have to re-sit them again but… it's worth the try." Thea shrugged.

"Hey, just keep an open mind. You never know." He smiled as she nodded with a smile. He thought she was incredibly beautiful. And her bubbly and confident personality drew him in immediately.

"I better get going." Thea said, finishing her small coffee, "My little sister has a soccer game that I promised I'd be at." She said as Dominic nodded.

"Well hey, maybe after next week's meeting we could… grab a coffee across the street?" He said as Thea looked at him.

"There's coffee here." Thea said curiously as Dominic laughed a little.

"I was just thinking we could go somewhere a little bit more cheery." Dominic said as Thea nodded to herself.

"Look, I'm not… I just got out of a long-term relationship." Thea said, "I'm really not looking to-"

"No, I didn't… I wasn't coming on to you." Dominic shook his head, not wanting to give off that vibe towards her, "No, I just mean… friends grabbing a coffee. It's just… nice to talk to someone who knows how difficult this stuff is." He said as Thea looked at him and nodded.

"It is." She smiled, "I'd love to." She nodded.

"Good." Dominic smiled. He wasn't trying to pursue her or come onto her. He really did enjoy talking to her. He'd keep it to himself that he thought she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever laid eyes on.

"Ok, I better get going." Thea nodded, "I'll see you next week." She said as he nodded.

"Enjoy the soccer game." Dominic smiled as she nodded and left the hall.

* * *

"You're late." AJ said as Thea eventually joined her at the soccer game on the field.

"I got caught up at my meeting." Thea said, "How is she doing?" She asked.

"Her team is losing." AJ said as Thea frowned, looking at Jude who was standing beside AJ.

"Jude, you wanna go get a hot-dog from the stand?" Thea asked, looking over at the hot-dog stand.

"No, I'm watching the game." Jude said, not even turning to look at her sister as Thea looked at AJ with frustration. AJ just put her hand up and waved it.

"How was your meeting?" AJ asked her.

"It was fine." Thea said, "And please don't ask me if I think it's helping. I'm just… I'm taking it one… session at a time." Thea nodded, hugging her cardigan around her.

"I know." AJ smiled, "I'm proud of you regardless." AJ said, rubbing Thea's back softly as the soccer game broke up for half-time.

It was then when Thea noticed her father approaching them, walking over to them as AJ eventually noticed too. She hadn't spoken to him since their last encounter which happened on the kitchen counter.

"Hey, can I speak to you?" Punk tapped Jude's shoulder as Jude looked up at him, turning to AJ.

"We're gonna get a hot-dog." AJ said, shoving Thea over as she looked at Punk nervously.

"Mom." Thea said, almost tripping up, walking to the hot-dog stand with her as Punk turned his attention to Jude.

"What is it?" Jude asked.

"I really don't want you to be mad at me." Punk shook his head, "I know I made a mistake. I just… I act out and I don't think, you're right about that." He nodded, "And I'm gonna learn, trust me." He nodded as Jude looked at him.

"You're just saying that." Jude shrugged.

"No, really." Punk nodded, "I know I gotta do better. I can't risk anything, I don't want to. It was stupid of me to fight in front of you and Cassie. It was unfair." He said, "And I'm sorry." He said sincerely, "I don't want you to doubt me or have worries about me and the future. Cause I'm gonna be here. I promise you. For everything." He nodded as she folded her arms and looked down.

"I want you to be here." Jude nodded.

"And I will be." Punk promised, "Nothing is more important to me than you and your sisters. I won't make excuses for myself but… these past few months have been really tough. I acted out and I shouldn't have. You had every right to call my ass out on it and… put me in my place." He nodded with a smile as Jude nodded.

"Well you were an idiot." Jude said, scuffing her converse off the grass as Punk nodded.

"I was." Punk agreed, "But I'm less of an idiot when I got you." He nodded, "I really am sorry."

"I know." Jude nodded, "I'm just scared you'll end up going away again."

"I know you are, and I hate that… that's in your mind. I think it's… it's only natural that you all think that." Punk nodded, looking over to Thea and AJ standing over by the hot-dog stand, "But I can tell you, with my entire chest, that I'm not going anywhere. I'm here for you." Punk said as Jude nodded with a small smile, "Ok?" He said.

"Ok." Jude nodded as Punk smiled, wrapping an arm around her as she hugged into him.

"What do you say me and you go see that horror film this week?" He asked her.

"Yeah." Jude smiled. All she wanted was a relationship with her dad, because she knew how good he was and how much he meant to her. She had the confidence to trust in him.

"Dad, I need water!" Cassie gasped, running off the pitch, wiping her forehead as Punk chuckled a little.

"Here." Punk reached over to her backpack and got her water out.

"My team are losing." Cassie said with frustration between gulping her water, desperate to go back onto the pitch.

"Hey, you got this, sport." Punk said confidently, "You just need one goal and it's all even. Another one after that and you're taking us home." He nodded.

"No one is passing me the ball." Cassie said angrily as Jude laughed a little.

"Ask for it." Jude advised, "Shout out."

"I will." Cassie gasped, throwing her bottle of water over, "Gotta go." She said, hyper and energetic as she ran off.

"I don't know where she finds that energy." Punk chuckled to himself.

"Me neither." Jude agreed as Punk looked over at AJ and Thea.

"I'm uh… I'm gonna go talk to your mom, ok?" He said as Jude nodded, watching as he walked on over to the hot-dog stand.

"Can I talk to your mom for a second?" Punk asked, looking over at Thea who nodded and walked away without saying a word.

"I was just going over to watch the rest of the game." AJ tried to walk off as Punk pulled her back by the hand.

"Is this what you're gonna do now? Just… avoid me at all costs?" He asked.

"I… I have nothing to say to you." AJ shook her head with confusion.

"Really?" Punk questioned.

"Yes. Really." AJ took her hand back from him, "Unless it's about the kids, we have no reason to talk."

"You're just gonna ignore what happened?" Punk asked, "Come on, don't make me out like I'm crazy. I saw you… I heard you… what we have is… is still there." He nodded, "You don't even wanna entertain the idea of… of trying again-"

"No, I don't." AJ said bluntly, "I actually want a divorce, Phil. Like I said." She said as Punk looked at her, "I'm looking into it right now, I already have a lawyer and-"

"You're kidding me, right?" Punk looked at her.

"No, I'm not." AJ said, "I told you, it was a mistake."

"Why are you lying to yourself?" Punk questioned.

"Lying to myself?" AJ laughed, "I'm not lying to myself." She made clear, "We got carried away and… it shouldn't have happened. It's not gonna change anything." She said.

"You look me in the eye and tell me that you didn't feel something, that you don't want more-" He was cut off as she slapped him across the face hard.

"Shit." Thea raised her eyebrows, looking over as Jude also caught a glimpse of it.

"Don't talk to me like that." AJ shook her head as Punk massaged his cheek.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just mean… we're still good, April. I mean I still feel like I'm sixteen-"

"Well you're forty so…"

"So are you." Punk replied childishly as she stared at him.

"I told you." AJ said seriously, "Too much happened. I don't… I can't get back together with you." She shook her head.

"You don't want to or you're too scared to?" Punk figured.

"Both." AJ said as Punk ran his hand through his hair, "I'm meeting with my lawyer in a few days. It's not gonna be a nasty thing. It's not like I'm gonna get full custody of the kids and cut you off. I just… need it to be over." She nodded.

"You really think me and you will ever be over?" Punk asked.

"We've been over for eight years." AJ nodded, looking over at the soccer game which was restarting, "Game is starting back." She said, walking by him and re-joining Thea and Jude as Punk sighed to himself.


	58. Helpless

**Helpless**

* * *

"What was that all about?" Thea asked, getting home later that night, standing in the kitchen with her mother whilst Cassie was enjoying ice-cream in the living room and Jude had escaped upstairs to go for a shower.

"What?" AJ asked, oblivious.

"You slapping dad?" Thea asked, "What'd he say?" She asked.

"That's between me and him." AJ nodded. The one thing she didn't want, was the girls getting caught up in her and Punk's drama, "I am meeting with a lawyer in a few days, gonna try and settle this divorce." She said as Thea nodded slowly.

"So let me guess, he doesn't want one?" Thea asked.

"Of course he doesn't." AJ said, "But it's been eight years. We've been divorced for a long time, it's just not been official." AJ said, "That's the way I see it."

"But he's still hoping for something?" Thea asked as AJ nodded, "Well it's… it's what you want." Thea assured her.

"I know." AJ said, "It's not something I want to burden with you girls. It's between me and your father."

"But we're here for you." Thea assured her, "Just like you've been here for us." She nodded, "We're not the only ones who struggled without him. You did too and your feelings shouldn't mean lesser than ours." She said as AJ smiled.

"I still care about him." AJ nodded.

"I know you do." Thea understood.

"But I just… I can't go back there with him. Not after doing this on my own for so long." AJ shook her head as Thea nodded.

"That's ok." Thea said, "You do what is best for you. And we'll be there for you." Thea nodded as AJ smiled.

"I don't want to hurt him, you know?" AJ sighed, rubbing her forehead stressfully.

"I know you don't." Thea said, "But after everything you've gone through, I think… I think it's right of you to protect yourself." She nodded, "Not from him but… from going through all of that again."

"I just never thought I'd be divorcing him." AJ shook her head, sitting down at the kitchen table and sighing, "I know it's not as clear to you but… we did love each other." She nodded, "We went through things together that… you just don't let anyone else see you like that but… with him, it was ok." She nodded as Thea looked at her.

"I know you loved each other." Thea nodded, "And I know you still do. But there comes a point where you… you gotta think about what's best for you, what's gonna help you move on." Thea said as AJ nodded.

"I'm scared he makes it difficult." AJ sighed.

"Well it's dad. He doesn't do things the easy way." Thea shook her head.

"I don't want it to turn out bad." AJ said, "I don't want it to go to court, to involve you girls-"

"Well after everything that has happened, if he really puts you through all of that… he's lower than I thought he was." Thea nodded, "If he loves you, he'll let you go." She said as AJ nodded.

"Not sure I want him to let me go." AJ admitted honestly as Thea looked at her.

"That's something you gotta figure out on your own I'm afraid." Thea nodded.

"I know." AJ sighed, "How come you were late at the meeting again?" She asked.

"I just got caught up chatting." Thea said.

"Making friends?" AJ smiled.

"Yeah, I guess I am." Thea nodded as AJ smiled.

"You're doing good, baby." AJ nodded with a smile as Thea took a deep breath.

"I'm trying." Thea nodded.

It wasn't easy, but she was doing her best to stay on a good, clean path. Focusing her mind on college, and going to her meetings. She realised before that her habits, her addictions, not only weighed her down but everyone else around her, and especially seeing how bad she'd hurt her sister recently, had really opened her eyes. She wanted to do better for them, and for herself.

"And that's all you can." AJ nodded.

"I just don't know what I'm supposed to do about Jude." Thea said, "She's just not talking to me."

"She'll come round." AJ said, "It's your sister." She nodded.

"Yeah and she hates me." Thea sighed.

"She doesn't hate you. She's just dealing with her own stuff too." AJ said, "Let her come round to you when she's ready." She nodded.

"She really thinks it's always about me, doesn't she?" Thea nodded as AJ looked at her, "I mean I don't blame her. She lost her dad too and then she had to watch me fuck my entire life up. If anyone has strength it's her." Thea said.

"We all see things from a different perspective. Jude just… wanted her dad to come home. She didn't know any different. We did." AJ said.

"Mom, I'm finished my ice-cream." Cassie said, emerging into the kitchen with chocolate ice-cream all over her face, her dirty soccer strip still on, with equally dirty knees.

"You need a bath, young lady." AJ nodded.

"Yeah, I'm dirty." Cassie agreed.

"I'll take you." Thea said, "You go up and start running the bath." Thea told her as Cassie ran off out of the kitchen.

"I can do it." AJ insisted.

"No, you… you have a coffee and just chill out." Thea nodded as AJ smiled, watching her leave the kitchen.

* * *

"Can I help you?" Punk asked, opening the door to his mother later that night.

"You can try smiling for starters." Sam scoffed, walking into the apartment as Punk closed the door.

"Mom, I'm really not in the mood-"

"I brought you a moving in gift." Sam said, walking through to the kitchen.

"What is it?" Punk asked.

"A set of plates and cutlery." Sam said, "So please stop using paper plates and plastic cutlery." She advised as Punk just rolled his eyes.

"Thank you for the plates." Punk nodded, "Would have preferred a time machine or something, though." He said, sitting down at the table as Sam unboxed the plates.

"What's going on?" Sam asked him.

"April wants to get a divorce." Punk nodded as Sam looked across at him.

"Not to… not to be harsh on you but… you're surprised by this?" She questioned as Punk scoffed.

"No, I'm not surprised." Punk said, "I just… I don't want to get divorced. I know we've not exactly had a marriage in eight years but, I'd give anything for a chance to prove to her that… this won't happen again." He said, "I don't know if it's because we had sex the other day, maybe I got the idea in my head-"

"You what?" Sam shook her head.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "Right there actually." He pointed over to the kitchen counter as Sam looked over with horror, "And there." He pointed elsewhere, "There." He pointed.

"Ok." Sam interrupted loudly, "I think I get the point." She nodded.

"I thought that was… progress. Nothing felt different. Nothing had changed-"

"Just because she had sex with you doesn't mean that everything would change after that." Sam looked across at him, "God, you have three daughters and you still don't know how the female brain works."

"I could have ten daughters and I wouldn't know how the female brain works." Punk shook his head.

"Honey, she's scared." Sam nodded, "She doesn't want to let you in, in case she loses you again. It was so difficult for her, for all of you… she's just trying to protect herself." Sam shook her head, "And I can't say what's really going on in her head or what she wants but… this doesn't mean she doesn't care about you."

"So everyone in my life is gonna be too scared to get close to me because of what happened? How the hell do I get over that?" Punk shook his head, "Are they all just sitting waiting on me disappearing again?"

"Well can you blame them?" Sam asked, "It's been eight years, Phil. I know you had it tough in there, but… your life stayed the same, it was consistent." She nodded, "Things happened here, everyone went through something."

"They gotta give me a chance to prove that I'm not… I'm not gonna end up going away again." Punk said.

"I believe you, but I wasn't left to raise three of your children on my own." Sam said, "She's protecting herself. That's all it is. She's not scared of you or hates you… clearly from what you've just told me." She scoffed, looking around the kitchen and groaning, "But if she wants a divorce… I'm sorry, but that's what you gotta accept. You don't wanna make it difficult for her."

"Of course I don't but… getting divorced really is… ending it." Punk said, "At least when I was in prison I could… I could still call her my wife, I could imagine patching things up and working it out but… this is like her saying it's really over-"

"Baby, it's been over for eight years. For her anyway." Sam said, "Now is the time for you to focus on you and your kids. April will always be there, she'll always listen to you and be there for you, I wouldn't doubt that." She said, "But if this is what she wants-"

"What about what I want?" Punk questioned, "I know they were hurting here but I wasn't exactly having a party in my prison cell every night." Punk said, "I don't think I can let her go." He shook his head, "She was there for me." He shook his head, "More than you." He said honestly as Sam nodded, "She knows me better than anyone and it's because I let her." He said as Sam sighed.

"And you're not gonna lose that with her. That's not something you can replace or lose." Sam shook her head, "I wish there was something I could do or say that would make this better." She said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, I do too." Punk said, "I just… I want her to be happy, I want all this pain that I caused her to go away." He nodded, "And I thought when I got out, I'd be able to help her with that." He said.

"I don't think it's as easy as that." Sam shook her head.

"I just never thought I'd be getting a divorce with her." Punk shook his head.

"I know." Sam nodded, "You can still be friends." Sam said as Punk shook his head, standing up from the table and walking away.

Sam sighed to herself, hearing the bedroom door bang shut as she ran her hand through her hair. She was in fear for her son's mental state, with all of this going on. She knew he wasn't happy, and she was worried that he was keeping it bottled up. She wished there was something she could do to help more.


	59. Jealousy

**Jealousy**

* * *

"_Either use these, or make him use these." AJ spat, throwing down a paper bag from the pharmacy as 16 year old Thea looked inside._

"_Oh my god, mom." Thea looked up at her mother with embarrassment._

"_What?" AJ questioned as Thea took out the birth control and condoms, cringing the entire time._

"_You really went to a drug store and bought condoms?" Thea raised a brow._

"_Baby, I've had more embarrassing moments in my life than buying a pack of condoms." AJ shook her head._

"_How do these work?" Thea asked._

"_The condoms?" AJ asked with horror._

"_No." Thea said immediately, "The pills obviously."_

"_Their combination pills so take one every day. Try take it at the same time every day so… when you wake up or after your breakfast, whatever." AJ nodded._

"_Every day?" Thea raised a brow._

"_Yes." AJ said._

"_So like… did they not have these invented when you were young?" Thea questioned as AJ paused._

"_How old do you think I am?" AJ shook her head as Thea shrugged, "It was invented."_

"_How'd you get pregnant, though?" Thea asked as AJ looked at her._

"_Because I did." AJ said childishly, "Just… take one every day, you'll be fine." AJ nodded as Thea rolled her eyes._

"_Ok well, you can take these back." Thea slid the condoms over as AJ scoffed._

"_What am I going to do with them?" AJ questioned as Thea rolled her eyes._

"_You do what you like with them. He has his own." Thea nodded as AJ groaned, feeling sick._

"_You tell me if you get any side effects with those. They don't agree with everybody." AJ said._

"_Ok." Thea said, walking away._

"_And not in this house!" AJ yelled after her as Thea ran off upstairs just as she heard someone come in the door._

"_It's just me." Dean called, walking on through the house, coming into the kitchen and pausing when he saw a pack of condoms on the table, looking on at AJ._

"_What?" AJ shook her head._

"_You know you got some condoms sitting on your table?" Dean nodded._

"_Yes, I know." AJ said, "They're… for Thea." AJ shook her head as Dean tilted his head._

"_Excuse me?" Dean shook his head, "For who?"_

"_Thea." AJ nodded, "I'm as thrilled about it as you are." She assured him._

"_How do you know she's-"_

"_I'm her mother. I know these things." AJ shook her head, "So if she's gonna do it, at least I know she's being safe."_

"_I could have went about my day not knowing this." Dean groaned._

"_Yeah, well me too." AJ said, "We're all girls in this house, which makes it easier to do this stuff. I know if I told Phil about this he'd-"_

"_Have a heart attack and die? Yeah." Dean agreed as AJ smiled._

"_Part of growing up." AJ shrugged._

"_Just sucks when it's your kids, though. Right?" Dean said as AJ nodded._

"_Yeah." AJ laughed a little, "I just want to make sure she can come talk to me about anything." She nodded._

"_Yeah, of course." Dean said._

"_What you doing over here anyway?" AJ asked._

"_Renee sent me over to give you back the dress she borrowed from you." Dean said, "I left it on the stairs."_

"_Oh, thank you. I was in no hurry for it." AJ shook her head._

"_I know, but whilst I was coming home from work." Dean shrugged, "Where are the girls anyway?"_

"_Jude is at a birthday party. Thea is upstairs and Cass is asleep in the living room. Fell asleep watching The Lion King." AJ nodded._

"_I hope you've been making time for yourself." Dean nodded._

"_There is no such thing." AJ scoffed._

"_Come on, I'm serious." Dean said, "Even if it's just a night where you can chill out for a couple hours."_

"_I'm ok, Dean." AJ assured him, "Although, I did get asked out on a date the other day."_

"_A date?" Dean questioned as AJ nodded._

"_Yeah." AJ said, "I said no, of course." She shook her head as Dean looked at her._

"_Of course?" He questioned as AJ looked at him, "Have you and Phil talked about… where you guys are at? Relationship wise?"_

"_No, not really." AJ shook her head, "I think we're both avoiding it." She nodded, sitting down at the kitchen table._

"_What you thinking?" Dean asked her._

"_I'm thinking… I can't… I can't have a relationship with my husband through half an hour prison visits." AJ shook her head, "But… having him as my husband just… makes me still feel close to him. It sounds stupid but-"_

"_No, I get it." Dean nodded, "You think you're done?" He asked._

"_I try not think about it." AJ shook her head. Deep down, she knew her marriage was pretty much over. She knew the second Punk was sentenced. It didn't matter if she visited him every week in prison, he wasn't here at the end of every day, he wasn't there in the morning when she woke up, he wasn't there to help her through the bad days and celebrate the good. She just didn't want to accept that yet._

"_Maybe it's… worth thinking about at some point." Dean nodded, "He's supposed to be in there for fourteen years. That's… that's a lot of your life, April." Dean said, "And I love my brother but… I love you too, and I don't wanna see you waiting your life away for him. And I'm sure deep down he'd agree with me on that." He said as AJ nodded._

"_I just… it's Phil." AJ sighed, "I don't think I could let him go." She shook her head, "I could never let someone in the way I let him in."_

"_You don't have to." Dean shook her head, "But… it's ok if you want to try." He nodded as AJ sighed._

"_I miss sex." AJ said sadly as Dean laughed a little, "I do." AJ shook her head, "Sounds ridiculous, I know."_

"_No, it doesn't. You work hard, you got three kids, you're… alone most nights." Dean nodded, "No one would judge if you wanted to go… meet someone or even go on that date." He nodded._

"_I've never… been with anyone else." AJ shook her head as Dean looked at her, "And I never thought I would be." She sighed, "I don't want to be." She said._

"_Yeah, I know." Dean sighed, "You do what's best for you." He nodded as AJ sighed._

"_You want these?" She picked the condoms up, "I ain't gonna use them." She scoffed._

"_I don't use them." Dean chuckled, "Plus, these wouldn't fit." He winked as AJ rolled her eyes._

"_You aren't funny." AJ shook her head._

"_April, I'm hilarious." Dean nodded, leaning over and kissing her head as AJ smiled._

* * *

"Third session got deep." Dominic nodded, sitting across from Thea at the coffee shop across the road from the town hall where their meetings took place.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Thea shook her head, dumping a ton of sugar into her coffee as Dominic watched, "I shouldn't drink this."

"Why? I mean it was fine until you gave it diabetes." Dominic said as Thea chuckled.

"No, the caffeine gives me anxiety." Thea said, "When I went to rehab for cocaine, I was told to stay away from caffeine. Once every now and then won't hurt." She shook her head as Dominic nodded.

"Is that true that… your dad just got out of prison?" Dominic asked, referring to the meeting earlier, where Thea had shared a little more with everyone else in the room.

"Yeah." Thea nodded.

"You mind me asking why he was in?" Dominic asked.

"No, he was dealing drugs." Thea said, "Not for the first time either."

"Oh." Dominic nodded slowly, "So you don't get along with him then?"

"Not now." Thea said, "Before he went to prison he was like… best dad ever." She nodded to herself, "And I was super close with him."

"How long was he gone?" Dominic asked.

"Like eight years." Thea said, "Long time." She nodded.

"So I assume you're close to your mom?" Dominic asked.

"Super close." Thea smiled, "She's like my best friend. And I hate that I put her through all of this worrying and stress over the years. If I'm not doing this for me then I'm… I'm doing it for her." She nodded, "She deserves the best."

"It's good you had her." Dominic nodded as Thea smiled. Talking to him was different than talking to anyone else. She really felt like he was listening to her, engaging with her. It helped that he was very pretty to look at, but she wasn't thinking about that too much.

"You said that a bad break-up was when you started drinking? You mind me asking what happened?" Thea asked.

"No, uh… it wasn't anything bad. We broke up and I just started spending more time at the pub, to the point where I started going on my own. And then it just spiralled out of control." Dominic nodded, "You just got out of a relationship?"

"Yeah." Thea nodded, "Yeah, I've been with him since I was fifteen."

"Oh, wow." Dominic nodded.

"Yeah." Thea said, "It's pretty hard. Before he was my boyfriend he was my best friend so… it's weird not seeing him anymore."

"Why'd it not work out?" Dominic asked.

"It's… a long story." Thea shook her head, "To do with my dad and stuff that happened years ago." She nodded, "Being lied to."

"Never feels good." Dominic shook his head.

"No, it doesn't." Thea agreed, "I've just always depended on him. I wanna be able to depend on myself first. I've never really been single so… I wanna try that out." She nodded.

"A girl living the single life is always a dangerous one." Dominic nodded as Thea smiled, "You think those meetings are helping?" He asked.

"After the first one I thought… no way is this gonna help." Thea said, "But actually, it… it makes me felt sort of better. And it makes me feel proud. When they give you the little sticker on the book. It feels good." She nodded as he smiled.

"It does." Dominic agreed, "I find it easier talking to strangers about this stuff than my family."

"A lot of people are like that." Thea nodded, "It's common."

"And yeah, the sticker thing does make me feel good." Dominic nodded as Thea smiled, her smile fading when she saw Jackson walk into the coffee shop.

"Shit." Thea said to herself.

"What?" Dominic shook his head, turning around to see what she was looking at, watching a guy approach them.

"Hey." Jackson said, almost in a questioning tone.

"Hi." Thea nodded.

"What are you doing here?" Jackson shook his head.

"I was at a meeting." Thea nodded as Jackson looked at Dominic who tried to mind his own business.

"Who the hell is this?" Jackson questioned with attitude as Thea raised her eyebrows.

Dominic looked at Jackson, already knowing he didn't like him, "I'm Dominic." Dominic nodded, "We go to the same meeting." He explained as Jackson nodded, turning to Thea.

"Is this part of the meeting?" Jackson questioned, jealously.

"Jackson." Thea shook her head as Dominic said nothing, keeping his head down.

"Is this why you're ignoring my texts?" Jackson questioned, "You found someone else to occupy yourself with?"

"Oh my God." Thea rolled her eyes, "You're ridiculous." She shook her head, "Just go." She said, feeling embarrassed.

"Whatever." Jackson shook his head, walking away and leaving the coffee shop as Thea sighed.

"I'm sorry about that." Thea shook her head.

"He seems… nice." Dominic said sarcastically as Thea just shook her head.

"I didn't expect him to be like that." She said.

"Not really how you speak to someone you're supposed to care about." Dominic shook his head, taking a sip of his coffee as Thea nodded slowly.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom." Thea nodded, standing up and leaving the table as Dominic watched her, sighing to himself.


	60. Promise

**Promise**

* * *

"Hey." AJ nodded, watching as Punk opened up his door to the apartment.

"Hey." Punk nodded as AJ looked at him.

"Could I… come in?" AJ asked.

"Sure." Punk nodded, stepping aside and letting her in, closing the door behind her.

"This place is looking really good." AJ nodded kindly, "Feels really homely." She nodded back to him as he forced a smile and nodded.

"Still doesn't really feel like home." Punk said truthfully. He knew where his home was. It wasn't in this apartment, by himself, "You ok?" He asked her, walking through to the living room with her as she nodded.

It had been a few days since he'd seen her at the soccer game, where she confirmed her intentions for a divorce. He wasn't sure where her mind was at. He wasn't sure where his own mind was it.

"Jude had a lot of fun yesterday." AJ nodded, "She really likes spending time with you. And Cassie has so much fun with you." AJ said as Punk nodded.

"Spending time with them now is a little different compared to before. Feels different." He said.

"How so?" AJ asked, sitting her purse down.

"Little things mean more to me. Getting to see them, spend time with them, it means more to me than you could probably ever know." He said as AJ nodded.

"I can understand why." AJ nodded, "You should know that… Thea is doing really good. She's going to an AA meeting every week. And I… I actually think she likes going which I didn't expect." She said.

"I'm glad she's getting help." Punk nodded.

"She's also back at college and she's finished all her exams." AJ said as Punk nodded, "I just thought you'd wanna know."

"I do." Punk assured her, "But I know that you wouldn't have come all the way over here just to tell me that." He said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah… well, I didn't." AJ nodded, taking out some documents from her purse as Punk sighed to himself.

"Divorce papers?" Punk nodded to himself.

"I uh… I sent the petition away to court a couple days ago." AJ nodded.

"On the grounds of what?" Punk asked.

"That we're no longer a couple. That we can amicably split and share custody of the kids." AJ nodded, "So there's gonna be a court order next week. A hearing. You say your bit, I say mine… we can just get it over with." AJ nodded as Punk looked at her, "It's next Thursday so… please be there." She said as Punk took the papers from her.

"Is this really what you want?" Punk shook his head as AJ looked at him.

"Would I be doing it if it wasn't?" AJ asked him.

"I know this has been hell, for all of us. For me, for you, for the kids… but we've had good times, April. There's been bad but… there was also really good."

"Yeah and I'll remember all of that." AJ assured him, "But this is where we're at now." She nodded, "I'd like to move on. From you. From everything that happened in these past eight years. And yeah, maybe it's selfish on my part to do this but… for eight years I feel like I haven't even lived for myself. I just felt like I was waiting my life away. Worrying about the kids. Having a baby on my own… again." She said, "Balancing a career and three children." She rubbed her forehead, "I just… I want to move on. I want us to move on and close this chapter."

"If you wanted to move on why'd you sleep with me last week?" Punk asked her as AJ looked at him.

"Because maybe for… for one last time, I wanted to just… be with you again." AJ nodded, "Pretend none of this happened and still be your wife." She shrugged, "I don't know, it was stupid of me and… and if that made you think that I wanted more or… I wanted a relationship then I'm sorry for making you think that." She nodded.

"Why can't we work this out?" Punk asked, "Why can't we move on from this, together?" He asked her.

"It's too late for that." AJ shook her head, "I'll always care about you-"

"Don't. Just save all of that crap." Punk shook his head.

"Well it's true. None of this means I don't care about you anymore." AJ said, "We've all been living with this for so long. You've lost so much. We've lost so much. I just think that the girls should be your priority and we need to just… support them separately. I don't see us being able to just carry on, get back together and pretend the past eight years didn't happen-"

"We could help each other." Punk said, "For eight years, the only thing that kept me going was that one day, I was gonna get out of there and I was gonna be with you and I was gonna see my girl again." He nodded, "And I got out and… I still feel like I'm in prison." He shook his head, "Because I go to sleep and I'm alone, I wake up… I'm alone. I get home from work and I… I got nothing." Punk shook his head, "Thea doesn't want me in her life and I… I don't think she ever will." He said, "I know nothing about Cassie. She's this little person that… that's mine but… but I don't know her." He said, "And Jude still worries that I'm gonna end up leaving again." He nodded.

"What did you expect, Phil? It's eight years. That's a long time. A long time for all of us." AJ nodded, "You relationship with the girls will get better as time goes on-"

"And my relationship with you?" Punk questioned.

"We don't have a relationship." AJ shook her head, "Thursday at 3pm." AJ sighed, picking her purse up as Punk threw the divorce papers down onto the couch, "Please show up for it. If you don't it just delays the whole thing. Makes it harder for everyone." She nodded.

"This doesn't even feel right." Punk told her.

"I have to go." AJ nodded.

"You don't even want this." Punk shook his head.

"Don't tell me what you think I want." AJ said, backing up out of the living room and leaving the apartment as Punk shook his head, sitting down on the couch and looking at the divorce papers.

* * *

"_What are you doing out here?" Seventeen year old AJ walked over to Punk with a blanket wrapped around her, noticing he was sat on the stairs just outside their motel room, "Aren't you cold?" She asked, sitting down next to him, noticing he was only wearing his boxer shorts._

"_No, I'm good." Punk smiled to her, "You were out cold when I left."_

"_Yeah well you tired me out." AJ whispered, nudging him as he smiled, wrapping his arm around her and kissing her head._

"_It's quiet tonight, for a change." Punk nodded, overlooking the motel car park._

_It was a run-down motel that they stayed at whenever they had enough money. Staying at their own houses sometimes weren't an option. AJ's was overcrowded and Punk never wanted to see what his mother was up to. Here they could just escape it all together._

"_Look at the moon." AJ pointed as Punk looked up, "It's so big." She smiled as Punk nodded, looking up. _

_She was safe with him. She was herself with him. She couldn't imagine ever not wanting to be with him. It was like he had a magnet on him that she got stuck to. _

"_You going home tomorrow night?" Punk asked her._

"_I don't want to." AJ shook her head, "Wish we could just stay here forever."_

"_Really? This place?" Punk scoffed, "I think we could do better than this one day."_

"_You think?" AJ smiled as Punk nodded, "It's rare to find this, you know." She said as he turned to her._

"_Find what?" Punk asked._

"_What we have." AJ nodded, "Not a lot of people would feel comfortable leaving their homes and… living on their own with a boyfriend or girlfriend." She said._

"_Yeah well not a lot of people have our families as their family." Punk shook his head as AJ nodded._

"_You know at first I thought you were just in it for the sex." AJ admitted as Punk laughed a little._

"_Is that the vibe I give off?" Punk chuckled a little._

"_A little, to be honest." AJ nodded, "I thought once we started hanging out that you'd make a move right away." She said._

"_No, I wanted you to make the first move." Punk nodded to her as she smiled._

"_Do you believe in soulmates?" She asked him curiously._

"_I'm not sure I believe in soulmates but… I do think that people are definitely meant to get together." Punk nodded._

"_Yeah, me too." AJ said, "I just… I can't imagine not being with you." She shook her head as he turned to her._

"_Then don't imagine it." Punk smiled, "You don't have to." He said as she nodded._

"_I for sure didn't think I'd find anyone that… that made me think about growing with them and… marriage, kids…" She shook her head, "I just didn't believe in that stuff because of my own parents. I didn't want what they had-"_

"_Now you want it?" Punk asked her._

"_I just want you." AJ shrugged as he smiled._

"_Dean is right. Girls really do get deep at 3am." Punk nodded as AJ chuckled._

"_My brain works hard at this time." AJ nodded, leaning into him as he wrapped his arm around her, "I'm just happy when I'm here with you." She said, taking a good natured sigh as Punk smiled._

"_Me too." Punk smiled. _

"_Can you promise me something?" AJ asked._

"_What?" Punk said._

"_Promise me we'll always have this." AJ nodded, "I don't care if… if the world is ending or whatever, just promise me it'll always be us." She said as he looked down at her._

"_I promise you." Punk nodded, "It's me and you. Always." He said as she smiled._

"_I never want to lose what we have." AJ shook her head._

"_I don't think this is something you can lose." Punk assured her as she smiled, "I love you." He nodded. It really wasn't something he threw around without car. He took this sort of love seriously. _

"_I love you too. AJ smiled, cupping his cheek and pressing a kiss on his lips softly as she leaned into him, pointing out the stars to him and listening to the quiet night around them._


	61. Best Friend

**Best Friend**

* * *

"_I don't want to go." Five year old Thea shook her head, looking up at her parents, holding both their hands and refusing to let go._

"_Thea-"_

"_No, I'm not going." Thea shook her head, looking up at father, "Let's just go back home." She smiled sweetly._

"_You gotta go to school." Punk nodded, crouching down in front of her as Thea huffed._

"_Baby, we'll see you in a few hours." AJ promised, brushing her hand through Thea's hair as Thea removed her hand with agitation._

"_I'll go tomorrow." Thea said, "But not today." She smiled, "So let's go." She took their hands as Punk and AJ smiled._

"_Baby." Punk shook his head as Thea huffed._

"_But I don't want to." Thea frowned._

"_I bet when you get in there you'll have the best time." AJ nodded._

"_You will." Punk agreed, "You love playing with other kids. And I bet there's toys there that you don't have at home. And you'll learn new things too, you can tell us all about it when we come pick you up."_

"_But I don't want to go by myself." Thea shook her head, "Come with me." She nodded._

"_We can't come with you." Punk shook his head, "You're a big girl now, you can do this." He nodded as Thea frowned, swaying her foot back and forth, looking down at the ground as Punk watched her._

"_I'm just a little girl." Thea shook her head, "I don't want to go. I want to stay with you." She nodded to Punk._

"_Hey, I'd love for you to stay with me all day. It'd be the best. But this is what little kids do. They gotta start school." Punk nodded, "You trust daddy don't you?" Punk asked her._

"_Yes." Thea nodded._

"_Then trust me when I say, you'll have fun." Punk nodded as AJ smiled, "You'll meet new friends, and you'll have so much stories to tell us." He said._

"_I can tell you stories anyway." Thea scoffed as Punk smiled._

"_Well you'll have even more stories to tell us." Punk rephrased as Thea sighed. _

"_I think I'll start tomorrow." Thea nodded to them both, trying anything to get out of this. _

"_No, you gotta start today, baby." AJ nodded, "Come on, you're a big girl now. This is what big girls do."_

"_I changed my mind, I'm not a big girl." Thea shook her head as Punk smiled a little._

"_You're gonna be fine." Punk assured her._

_He really couldn't believe it was his baby's first day of school. Time was going fast and these little moments were treasured. He never thought this would be an emotional day, but it really was. Sending her off to school for her first full day was a huge deal to he and AJ. He wanted her to go have fun, discover new things, explore everything she could. _

"_I might not be fine." Thea disagreed, taking his cap from his head and putting it on hers, "If I have your cap then I can't go." She grinned as AJ smiled. She was a cheeky one, for sure._

"_I tell you what, you take my cap with you." Punk nodded, tightening the cap on her head as Thea looked at him, "And I'll get it back from you when we come pick you up." He said as Thea frowned._

"_But this is your favourite cap." Thea frowned, adjusting the cap on her head, which was of course too big for her._

"_I know." Punk nodded, "But I bet if you're wearing it, you'll have a good day." He said as Thea touched the cap curiously whilst AJ smiled. He was always very good at the improv parenting. _

"_Will I?" Thea thought to herself._

"_Well you'll have to see." Punk nodded as Thea turned around and looked over at the class she was scheduled to go into, "You can do it." Punk encouraged as Thea nodded to herself._

"_Ok." Thea said, still unhappy but agreeing to the challenge._

"_Ok." Punk smiled, "Here, put your backpack on." He nodded, helping her put her arms through her backpack whilst AJ watched with a smile, taking her camera out as Thea watched._

"_Mommy no pictures." Thea made clear._

"_Oh, just one." AJ smiled._

"_Well I'm not smiling." Thea said, folding her arms and standing still._

"_That's ok." AJ said, taking a picture of Thea who glared at the camera. AJ didn't care. She was just overwhelmed to be sending her baby off to school._

"_Ok, now you gotta give us the biggest hugs ever." Punk nodded as Thea wrapped her little arms around him tightly, "You do you, kid." He kissed her head. _

"_Ok, I will." Thea nodded, moving over to her mother as AJ crouched down, wrapping her arms around little Thea tightly._

"_I hope you have so much fun, baby." AJ smiled, squeezing her tightly, "And learn so much." She kissed her head._

"_I can't learn too much." Thea shook her head, "I could get tired." She said as AJ chuckled and nodded._

"_That's true." AJ nodded, cupping her cheek and smiling, "I love you." AJ whispered sweetly, kissing Thea's cheek._

"_I love you too, mama." Thea said as Punk smiled._

"_Ok, off you go." AJ nodded, "You don't wanna be late on your first day."_

"_Ok." Thea nodded, running away to her class, holding onto the cap on her head whilst her little bag bounced from side to side, causing Punk to chuckle to himself, turning to AJ who was drying her tears._

"_You ok?" Punk asked, wrapping an arm around her waist._

"_Yeah." AJ laughed, even though tears kept coming, "God, I didn't think I'd be like this." She shook her head as Punk smiled, "I can't believe she's at school." AJ shook her head as Punk nodded._

"_Yeah, I know. It's crazy." Punk shook his head as AJ nodded, "But she's gonna have a ton of fun."_

"_Of course she is." AJ smiled, "She's just always around. And now she's like… she's got her own little part-time career." AJ gasped as Punk chuckled, "It's just… it's weird."_

"_It is." Punk agreed, "But you and I both know she'll love it." He said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and squeezing her tightly as AJ nodded._

"_She will." AJ nodded confidently, "I can't wait to see her later, listen to what she has to say."_

"_Yeah, me too." Punk smiled, turning around and walking off with AJ leaning into him._

"_Daddy, wait!" Thea ran out of her class as Punk and AJ turned around._

"_What is it?" Punk asked as Thea ran over to him, pulling him down into a crouching position as he looked at her._

"_If… If I make friends, you will still be my best friend." She told him as Punk looked across at her. AJ placed her hand on her chest, more tears pouring out of her eyes as she quickly dried them._

"_Thanks, baby." Punk nodded sincerely as Thea smiled._

"_Ok." Thea nodded, "Bye!" She ran away as Punk watched her with awe. She knew how to pull on heart strings, without even realising it. She such a genuine little soul, and getting to raise her every day was a gift._

"_My grown ass is about to start crying." Punk groaned, standing back up straight as AJ chuckled, rubbing his back, "That kid, I swear." He shook his head, taking a deep breath as AJ smiled, hugging into him as he kissed her head, heading back to their car._

* * *

"Ms Mendez, I'm afraid we're going to have to postpone this initial court hearing." The judge nodded as AJ sat with her lawyer in the court room.

"Just… give it five more minutes." AJ nodded.

"I don't have five minutes to give." The judge nodded bluntly, "It's been half an hour."

"When will the next hearing date be?" AJ sighed.

"I'll have to postpone for another month." The judge said.

"A month?" AJ questioned, "Isn't there any time sooner?"

"No." The judge shook her head, "This session was a cancellation. You got lucky." She nodded, "We'll postpone this hearing until Friday the 22nd." She nodded as AJ sighed to herself, turning to her lawyer who was of course very unhappy about the wasted time.

"Ok." AJ nodded quietly, "Thank you." She said as the judge nodded, leaving the small room as AJ sat at the desk, looking over to where Punk was supposed to be sitting. All she had asked was that he showed up.

"Where the hell is he?" AJ's lawyer, Karen, asked angrily.

"I don't know." AJ shook her head tiredly, "I told him the time. I told him where to go. I even text him to remind him last night." She said.

"You know if he refuses to sign this could get ugly?" Karen nodded as AJ sighed to herself.

"Maybe he just got held up." AJ shrugged, continuing to look at the door.

"April, don't be modest." Karen shook her head, "I thought he'd make this easy on you."

"Well he doesn't want to get divorced." AJ shrugged.

"Why? I mean you've practically been divorced for eight years. This is just… making it official." Karen shook her head, collecting her paper work in and putting it in her bag.

"It's a little more complicated than that." AJ nodded, "I can't believe we have to wait another month for this." She shook her head.

"Yeah, well you can thank Phil for that." Karen nodded, "Look, I gotta go. I got another client I need to see. I'm already gonna be late." She said as AJ nodded, "I'll call you through the week."

"Yeah, ok." AJ nodded, "Thanks, Karen." AJ said as Karen nodded, leaving the room whilst AJ sat at the desk in silence.

She looked around the empty room and took a deep breath, standing up and putting her coat on, getting ready to leave.

* * *

"What you doing here?" Thea asked, opening the door to Sam who walked into the house.

"Your mother home?" Sam asked Thea, standing at the doorway.

"Uh… no, she's at the hearing for the divorce with my dad." Thea shook her head, "I'm just about to leave for my AA meeting." She said as Sam sighed with concern, "What?" Thea questioned.

"I woke up this morning and this was sitting on my kitchen table." Sam said, extending the note over to Thea who read it.

"Tell April I'm sorry." Thea read, "My dad left this?"

"He must have not turned up to the hearing." Sam shook her head, "But this…" She snatched the note back and held it up, "This concerns me. I can't get a hold of him."

"Why would he not show up?" Thea shook her head with confusion.

"Why do you think?" Sam scoffed.

"He's not really holding out for a relationship with my mom is he?" Thea questioned.

"Well of course he is." Sam said, "I'm worried about him." She shook her head as Thea looked at her.

"Maybe he just got nervous." Thea shrugged, putting her jacket on and grabbing her car keys.

"I can't get a hold of him." Sam shook her head.

"He'll show up." Thea said calmly, "Look my mom will probably be home soon, but I gotta go to my meeting." She nodded as Sam sighed to herself, "Go have a coffee or something. Maybe my mom has spoken to him." She said.

"Yeah, maybe." Sam said hopefully, "Ok… ok, you go." Sam nodded to her as Thea rubbed her arm before leaving the house and heading over to her car.

She got into her car, starting the engine and pausing as she put her hands on the steering wheel, feeling this anxiety and worry in her stomach.


	62. Concern

**Concern**

* * *

Thea pulled up outside of the docks, getting out of her car and locking it as she ran down the stairs. The more time she spent in the car driving to her AA meeting, the more anxious she became when she thought about the note her father had left. It didn't sit well with her and she couldn't concentrate on anything else.

"Uncle Dean." Thea spotted her uncle, running over to him frantically.

"Hey, what are you doing down here?" Dean shook his head.

"Dean, my dad left a note and… and Sam can't reach him. He's not answering his phone. He was supposed to be at the hearing today for the divorce but he left a note and it said he was sorry and…" Thea couldn't keep up with herself as Dean shook his head, trying to keep up with her.

"Thea?" Punk shook his head as Thea turned around upon hearing his voice.

She didn't know whether she wanted to cry with relief or scream with anger. The relief kicked in, not daring to show it, whilst the anger floated above.

"You." Thea spat angrily, "What the hell are you doing?!" She yelled, approaching him and shoving him a little as Punk raised his eyebrows, "Why are you… leaving notes for people and then jumping off the face of the planet?" She asked angrily.

"What? I just… I came to work." Punk shook his head.

"And you can't answer your phone?" Thea spat.

"It's in my locker down there." Punk said, "Are you ok?" He shook his head.

"You don't leave notes like that and then… ignore everyone." Thea shook her head as Punk looked at her.

"Where did you think I was?" Punk shook his head with confusion as Thea looked across at him.

"I know where you should have been. At the hearing." Thea said, "It's all mom asked. It's all she wanted, and you can't even do that right." She shook her head as Punk sighed.

"I got nervous, alright?" Punk shook his head.

"Give me a break." Thea scoffed, "You just don't want to get divorced because you think you still have a chance with her, which is ridiculous considering the shit she's gone through, because of you-

"Because of me?" Punk questioned.

"Yeah, because of you." Thea nodded, "She deserves better than you and I… I so hope that she gets it." She shook her head as Punk looked at Thea.

"Are you finished?" Punk asked. It had come to a point where he couldn't even put up a fight anymore. He didn't want to fight with his daughter.

"Yes." Thea nodded, looking around and noticing some of the other workers staring at her, "What?!" Thea yelled at them, "You don't got work to do?" She spat as they all put their heads down and wandered away whilst Punk watched. She definitely wasn't his little girl any more, that was for sure.

"I'll talk to your mom about it when I see her. I just left the note with Sam because I knew that she'd see her first and I'd be working all day." Punk shrugged.

"Yeah well next time just… don't leave a note like that and disappear." Thea shook her head as Punk looked at her, "You'll be lucky if she even wants to speak to you." She said as Punk nodded to himself.

"I know." Punk nodded, "I know what me and your mom have, I'm not giving up on her-"

"You don't have anything with her. You haven't for eight years." Thea said, "If you actually did care about her, you'd just let her go live her life. Let her find someone who can make her happy and who preferably isn't an ex-convict."

"Ouch." Punk exaggerated as she leered at him, "Don't you have an AA meeting to go to?" He asked.

"Yes." Thea said, "Just… don't leave a note like that again." She warned fearfully as Punk watched her walk away, running up the stairs as he groaned to himself.

"She is one mean little woman." Dean scoffed, walking over to Punk.

"I think… she was worried about me?" Punk said in a questioning tone as Dean looked at him.

"That didn't look like worry to me." Dean shook his head.

But Punk could differentiate between his daughter being mad at him and being worried about him. It was a funny way for her to show it, but he could see through her anger there was concern there too.

"I know April is gonna be so pissed with me." Punk sighed.

"Yeah, I think so." Dean had to agree, "I know you don't want this, you wanna try work it out but… she clearly doesn't and you gotta respect that."

"I think she does, though. I know April. I know the girl." He sighed, "I think she's just scared."

"You can't predict how she's really feeling. Especially not after the time you've spent apart." Dean said.

"What do you expect me to do, though? Just give up and watch her try move on without me?" Punk asked, "It's fucking hard."

"Of course it is." Dean nodded, "But maybe it's… maybe it's the only option you got. You don't want it to get ugly." He shook his head as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, I know." Punk nodded, "I just couldn't face going there today and… and listening to it all."

"I know it's tough." Dean patted him on the back, "And I know you're probably still dealing with… what happened in prison. Just know I'm here. Come talk to me. Or just come hang out with me." Dean shrugged as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, thanks, man." Punk nodded, sighing to himself as Dean headed off to work.

* * *

"Hi, babies." AJ smiled tiredly, walking into the kitchen where Jude and Cassie were. They were good kids. If AJ was home later than usual, Jude would start dinner and they'd both do their homework first to get it out the way.

"Hi, mom." Cassie smiled happily as AJ kissed her head.

"How'd it go?" Jude asked her mom.

"He didn't show up." AJ shrugged, "Which means it's been postponed for another month, so it can all loom over us." AJ shook her head, dumping her purse on the kitchen counter.

"Maybe he just got scared." Jude said, "This has to be hurting him."

"Yeah well it's no fun for me either." AJ said, "But it's all I asked. Just show up so we can just… get on with it." She said.

"Maybe he thinks you'll change your mind." Jude said as AJ shook her head.

"It's been too long." AJ sighed to herself.

"You give that as your excuse but I just think you're scared." Jude shrugged as AJ looked over at her. She was always honest.

"I'm scared?" AJ asked, "Of what?"

"Of him going away again. We all are." Jude said, "But it's unfair to think like that. It's unfair to us and our feelings, and it's unfair to dad." She said as AJ looked at her.

"Me and your dad aren't getting back together." AJ shook her head as Jude looked at her.

"It's yourself you're lying to." Jude shrugged as AJ sighed.

"Is Thea still at AA?" AJ asked.

"Yeah, I think so." Jude nodded.

"Can we talk about you still ignoring her?" AJ asked, "Don't you think you should talk it out?"

"No." Jude shrugged.

"I think at this point, your sister knows how hurt you were. She's sorry. She wasn't herself and she was very obviously in need of help-"

"She's always in need of help." Jude shook her head.

"Jude. C'mon, that's not fair." AJ said, "Do you think your sister likes this? Do you think she likes going to AA meetings and rehab?" AJ questioned, "You and her are friends. She misses you." AJ nodded as Jude shrugged, stubbornly.

"Mom." Cassie said.

"What, baby?" AJ played with Cassie's hair.

"Why does dad not live with us?" Cassie asked curiously. Whilst Thea and Jude's questions about their father were on a much more mature level, Cassie was just trying to adapt to this new person in her life, wondering why her friends at school had parents who lived together whilst she didn't.

"Well… some mom's and dad's just don't live together." AJ explained.

"Because they don't like each other?" Cassie wondered as Jude scoffed.

"No, nothing like that." AJ assured her, "It's just easier for some parents." AJ nodded.

"Oh." Cassie nodded just as there was a knock at the door.

"I'll be back in a minute." AJ said, leaving the kitchen and walking down the hallway, opening up the door where she saw Punk standing, clearly having just finished work. She immediately shut the door over on him.

Punk scoffed and knocked on the door again as AJ opened it back up angrily.

"What do you want?" AJ spat.

"Just let me explain." Punk nodded.

"No, I don't wanna hear it." AJ said, "I asked one thing of you. One thing. Just show up." AJ nodded.

"I know-"

"No you don't." AJ said, "All you're doing is postponing it. I want this done with so we can move on." AJ nodded, "I don't want it hanging over our children's heads. I don't want it dampening the mood. Just cooperate with me, that's all I'm asking."

"I got nervous today and I just… I freaked out. I hate this." Punk assured her, "But I made a promise to you that it was always gonna be us, that we weren't gonna lose what we had to anything." He said.

"I was seventeen." AJ scoffed.

"Yet you know what I'm talking about, and you remember it." Punk said as AJ looked at him, "Look, I'm not trying to sway you into a relationship again. I just want you to make sure this is what you want-"

"Don't be so egotistical." AJ said, "As if… as if my life revolves around you. When the past eight years, it's been anything but. I've never felt more alone than I have these past eight years." She said.

"Yeah, likewise." Punk nodded.

"Do you have any idea how hard it was to give birth on my own for the second time in my life?" AJ questioned.

"No, I don't. But I know how hard it was to be locked up in a cell and miss out on eight years of my daughter's life. All three of them. You were here for them. You could help them and watch them grow up. I'll never get that again-"

"And I'm sorry about that!" AJ shouted as Punk looked at her, "I am." She said as Punk looked at her, "But this isn't going to work."

"How do you know?" Punk asked.

"Because, Phil. It's been eight years. It was hard enough when you did the one year when Thea was born but this is… there's no coming back from this and all I wanted was to do this divorce as easy as we could. But now we have to wait another month for a hearing, which is another month of Jude telling me I'm just scared."

"Maybe you are." Punk said as AJ shook her head.

"No, I just want to move on." AJ said, "You could have just showed up today." She shook her head as Punk looked at her, "Please just go." She nodded.

"April-"

"I have nothing else to say to you." AJ shrugged, closing the door over and sighing to herself as Punk did the same on the opposite side. Now their feelings were being outshined by anger, with so much emotions interfering, one being confusion yet desperation. The scarring of these eight years made it so hard to trust and to open up again, and that was definitely showing.


	63. Open Up

**Open Up**

* * *

"Why are you up?" Thea shook her head, walking into the kitchen through the night where she saw her mother sitting at the table.

"Can't sleep." AJ shook her head, "You?"

"Came down for a drink." Thea nodded, walking over to the fridge and taking a bottle of water out as AJ nodded, "Where's your head at?"

"Honestly?" AJ questioned, "I don't fucking know." She said, rubbing her forehead tiredly as Thea nodded, joining her, sitting down across the table from her as Thea looked at her.

"It's all up in the air, huh?" Thea nodded.

"Pretty much." AJ nodded, "I just wanted him to show up. That's all I asked."

"If there's anything positive that you can take away from this is that… he really does still love you." Thea nodded, "I for sure thought with that amount of time spent away from each other that… you'd barely even care when he got out." Thea said.

"You'll come back to me and tell me you understand once you fall in love. For real." AJ assured her as Thea thought to herself, "Been with the guy since I was sixteen. He was like… everything in one. My best friend, my boyfriend, my first kiss, my first-"

"I don't need to know the firsts." Thea rolled her eyes as AJ nodded, "Right now, present day, do you want to be with him?" Thea asked.

"It's just not as easy as that. It's not a… a simple yes or no-"

"So it's a maybe?" Thea wondered.

"I don't know." AJ shook her head.

"But you wanna rush and get a divorce?" Thea questioned as AJ looked at her, "Maybe he's right, maybe… you gotta think about this-"

"You're siding with your dad?" AJ questioned with shock.

"I'm trying to help you figure all of this out." Thea nodded.

"I think I've accepted that I'm not figuring this out any time soon." AJ nodded, "On the one hand, he's Phil. I know him. I love him. He's the only person I ever really wanted to be with." She nodded, "And then… on the other hand, there's the eight years I've spent on my own, going over things in my head, torturing myself with it, resenting him but missing him, hating him but loving him." AJ balanced her hands out as Thea looked at her.

"Well then let me ask you this." Thea nodded, "In five years time, where are you?"

"Well let's see… you'll be twenty six. Jude will be twenty. Cassie fourteen." AJ thought to herself.

"Mom." Thea said as AJ looked at her, "Where will you be? Not us." Thea made clear as AJ looked at her. It was a classic showing of how little she had gotten live for herself. It sounded dramatic, but it was true. Her first thoughts were always about her children, about what they were doing, where they were, who they were with. She'd almost lost herself to that.

"I… I don't know where I'll be." AJ said truthfully.

"Are you with dad?" Thea asked. She could be bitter at her father, she could have her reasons to be mad, her insecurities, but that didn't mean she couldn't put them aside to help her mother.

"I don't know." AJ shook her head, "He's just… he's always there. I just can't place him." She admitted.

"How would you feel if… you did move on and so did he? And he… got with someone else?" Thea asked as AJ raised a brow.

"I'd… I'd be happy for him." AJ shrugged as Thea looked at her.

"Of course you would." Thea nodded sarcastically, "You gotta figure this out on your own. Forget us. Me, Jude and Cassie. This is what you want." Thea said, "You decide."

"I guess rushing into this divorce was just… a quick getaway from all of it. I mean, part of me does want to just close all of this off and start fresh. Move on." AJ said, "But if I'm not one hundred percent sure… just makes me look like a fool."

"No, you're confused and… scared." Thea nodded, "It's understandable." She said as AJ nodded.

"You at college tomorrow?" AJ asked as Thea nodded.

"Yeah I have an afternoon class." Thea nodded.

"How's the meeting been going? Good?" AJ asked her as Thea nodded.

"Yeah. I met a friend too." Thea smiled.

"Oh, really?" AJ smiled, "That's nice."

"Yeah. His name is Dominic. He's twenty-four." Thea nodded, watching her mother smile a little, "What?"

"He's a friend?" AJ asked.

"Yes, mom. He's a friend." Thea nodded as AJ put her hands up, "And I could use a friend like him right now." She nodded.

"I'm just teasing." AJ assured her, "I think it's great you're talking to people about this. More so people who can understand how you're feeling. I do my best but… these people really get it, you know?" AJ nodded.

"Yeah. It… it is helping. I didn't think it would but it is." Thea said as AJ smiled and nodded.

"I'm so glad. And so proud." AJ smiled as Thea nodded.

"He is really cute." Thea added as AJ nodded to herself.

"He's not married is he?" AJ asked as Thea raised her eyebrows.

"April." Thea gasped, "That's not funny."

"I'm sorry, it's 3am." AJ shook her head tiredly as Thea groaned with embarrassment, "You heard from Jackson?"

"No, not since he rudely interrupted me when I was having coffee with Dominic." Thea said.

"When was this?" AJ asked.

"Last week." Thea said, "He came in and saw me, obviously thought I was on a date or something. Was being all rude." She shook her head, "And I was really missing him but that just… made me not miss him." She shook her head as AJ nodded.

"He's probably just jealous. That's normal." AJ said.

"I just wanna be on my own for a little bit. Just… learn to depend on me." Thea said as AJ smiled.

"I think that's a good idea." AJ nodded, "You should get back to bed. You need your beauty sleep more than me." She teased.

"Excuse me." Thea gasped, standing up from the table as AJ smiled, "I'll leave you to your thoughts."

"There's a lot of them." AJ sighed to herself.

"Remember it's about what you want. What's best for you." Thea nodded as AJ smiled, watching her leave the kitchen.

* * *

"God, it's like pulling fucking teeth, honestly." Punk paced up and down in Dean's kitchen where Dean stood in his boxer shorts, almost falling asleep as he leaned against the fridge.

When Punk woke him up at 3am, knocking at the door of his house, he of course welcomed him in, but it was the middle of the night.

"You think you can change her mind?" Dean grumbled.

"I don't know. I honestly don't." Punk said, "Normally I can read her but I can't right now." He said, "I know that if we can just get past this hurdle then we can… we can try and fix what we have-"

"Big hurdle though." Dean nodded, sitting down at the kitchen table, "I mean you can't just pick up where you left off."

"Of course I know that." Punk said, "But when I was in prison, she was the only thing that kept me going. Her, my kids, my family." He pointed to Dean, "And I come out… I feel like I don't have any of it." He shook his head.

"You got your family. You always got your family." Dean made clear as Punk scoffed, sitting down at the kitchen table.

"I know she had it rough. I know that. She was on her own and she was dealing with a ton of shit, but I didn't ask for this. I didn't do anything deliberately. She knows that." Punk said.

"I don't think she's mad at you. She's just… mad that she lost you for so long." Dean said, "And obviously she's scared that if she goes back to you, she might lose you again. It's April. She's protecting herself."

"But it's me. She's gotta let me in." Punk shook his head, "She's jumping head first into this divorce and I swear she's not even thought about it." He said, "She told me about it after we had sex, which means she got scared and she wanted to run because she knows we still have it." Punk nodded, thinking to himself as Dean nodded.

"So it's a case of… will she get over the fear? Will she force herself to move on?" Dean asked, "I don't envy you, brother. That's for sure." He nodded.

"Yeah, I don't fucking envy me either." Punk sighed to himself, running his hands over his face.

"You sleeping?" Dean asked him.

"Huh?" Punk looked at him.

"You sleeping right through?" Dean asked, "You sleeping at all?"

"Yeah, I suppose." Punk waved his hand, "Not really." He admitted as Dean nodded, "I can… I can still hear the bars rattling." He nodded to himself, "Close my eyes and I'm there." He closed his eyes over as Dean awakened a little more than he was, "And I can hear it all. There was a pipe in my cell that used to drip, leak… I can still hear it when I close my eyes." He nodded to himself as Dean watched him open his eyes back up.

"You gotta talk about this stuff." Dean said, "I know there's distractions and stuff going on to keep your mind busy but… that stuff is gonna be there, and you need to talk to me about it, talk to anyone about it."

"I'm fine." Punk shook his head, "It's all good."

"Phil." Dean said seriously as Punk looked at him, "Are you sleeping at all?"

"A couple hours every night." Punk nodded, "I wake up with a nightmare and then I.. I don't wanna go back to sleep." He said, "Sound like a fucking infant."

"You sound like someone who has been locked up for eight years." Dean corrected, "And you gotta address that. Please. Please don't keep this in." Dean said seriously. He was concerned about his brother. He hadn't mentioned anything about prison until now. Sam was also concerned about him. It was like he'd blocked off his life in prison completely, and they knew that wasn't healthy.

"Can I stay here tonight?" Punk asked Dean.

"Of course you can." Dean nodded.

"Ok." Punk nodded to himself.

* * *

The next day, Thea was headed to college in the afternoon. She left the house and parked in the college campus. Having a routine really did help her focus better and steer her addictions south. She didn't want to let herself down by ruining all the hard work she'd done in college.

She looked up when she saw someone knocking on the window of her car, putting it down as a cheerful girl stood. Thea looked at her and groaned. She showed up to college in some sweats and a hoodie. Her hair usually in a messy bun, occasionally wearing sunglasses when her face got puffy from sleeping. She really wasn't about the student lifestyle.

"Can I help you?" Thea questioned.

"I'm Laura. We're doing a charity car wash this afternoon, shall I put your car down?" Laura asked cheerfully, holding a clipboard as Thea looked at her.

"Where do you get your beans from? It's like… so early." Thea groaned, grabbing her red bull from the cup holder and taking a drink.

"It's 11am." Laura chuckled with confusion.

"Exactly." Thea nodded, "Early." She groaned, "Yeah, sure… this thing could do with a wash." She nodded.

"Great." Laura put the car details down.

"What's the charity for?" Thea asked, reaching for her wallet which was in her bag sitting in the passenger's seat.

"It's a men's mental health charity." Laura nodded, "Five dollars."

"Just take the ten." Thea nodded.

"Thank you." Laura smiled, taking the money as Thea unclipped her belt, "You have a great day."

"You too." Thea matched her cheery tone, watching her skip away as Thea yawned and stretched, "Here we fucking go." She nodded.

She stopped the car and got out, locking it and taking a step forward when she suddenly felt someone grab her around the waist and mouth. She immediately began kicking and trying to fight back, begging for someone to notice, but the force was too strong and fast, pulling her away into a car not far away.


	64. Plan

**Plan**

* * *

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Thea screamed, getting out of the car and pushing Jackson who glared at her, "What the fuck?!" She couldn't believe he had done this. Shoved her in a car and drove off without so much as speaking a word.

"We're gonna get out of town." Jackson nodded to her, "I packed you a bag." He nodded to her as Thea stared at him.

"Have you gone mad?" Thea questioned, "You just… grabbed me, put… put your hand over my mouth, shoved me in a car and drove off. What is wrong with you?" Thea shook her head. She couldn't believe he had done this. He wasn't a violent person, not that she knew of. There was no reason for him to treat her that way.

"There's too much shit going on here." Jackson said, "So we can just go. We can get away, far away from here." He nodded, "Look, I packed you a bag." He said, reaching into the car and showing her as Thea looked at him.

"Are you drunk or something?" Thea asked, "I'm not going anywhere, certainly not after you just did that. I thought I was being… kidnapped." Thea spat angrily, "Fucking idiot."

"We're going." Jackson said persistently, but Thea didn't take notice. To her, he was just her ex, her best friend… she never looked at him as someone to be afraid of.

"Great, I've missed my class." Thea pulled her phone out, not paying attention to Jackson, "Where even are we?" She questioned, looking around the empty car park.

"We'll miss traffic if we leave just now. There's a motel an hour south, we can go there and get some rest before heading out tomorrow." Jackson nodded as Thea turned to him.

"Ok, now you're freaking me out." Thea made clear, "I'm not going anywhere. I have college, I have.. I have my family, and you and I aren't… we're not even together." Thea shook her head, "Just drive me home." Thea rolled her eyes, walking past him and getting into the passenger's side of the car.

She was about to close the door over when she felt Jackson grab her by the shoulders, pulling her out of the car as she fell onto the ground and cut her chin open on the hard concrete, groaning in pain as she looked up at him.

"We're getting out of here." Jackson crouched down to her as Thea stared at him, wiping her chin, "And it's just gonna be me and you." He nodded as Thea looked at him with concern.

The Jackson she knew wouldn't have laid a hand on her. She didn't feel like she even knew him with how he was acting. She was pretty terrified.

* * *

"Have you spoke to your sister today?" AJ asked, walking into the kitchen where Jude was sitting doing homework. Cassie was in the living room watching TV after they had finished dinner.

"No." Jude shook her head.

"I know she had afternoon classes." AJ said to herself, "She's not replied to my texts." She shook her head. It was unusual to go a full day without hearing from Thea, even if it was just a random text message.

"Maybe she's hanging out with some friends." Jude shrugged, not so bothered.

"Yeah, maybe." AJ nodded, "You still going out with your dad?" She asked.

"Yeah, he's picking us up." Jude said, "Soon actually." She noticed the time.

"Where you going?" AJ asked.

"Just for ice-cream." Jude nodded.

"Ok, I'll get your sister ready." AJ said, leaving the kitchen and walking into the living room where she saw Cassie fast asleep on the couch. She was an active little girl, keeping up with her soccer routine multiple days a week and getting up early for school.

She sighed to herself, taking a blanket and placing it over her youngest daughter, leaning down and kissing her head just as she heard a knock at the door.

She left the living room and walked into the doorway, opening it up where she saw Punk standing.

"I'm uh… I'm taking the girls out for ice-cream." Punk nodded to her.

"Cassie's asleep." AJ nodded to him as Punk looked at her, "She had soccer practise after school today. Best to do things at the weekend with her." AJ suggested, "She gets tired."

"Yeah… sure." Punk nodded, "It is… 8pm." Punk nodded to himself, "Jude still coming?"

"Yeah, I think she's just getting her jacket." AJ looked back into the kitchen where she saw Jude getting ready, "Phil, I think we should talk." AJ nodded.

"We should talk?" Punk questioned.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "Let's not do the raging confrontations on the doorstep." She shook her head, "If we have things to discuss then let's… sit down and discuss them." She said as Punk shook his head with confusion.

"I honestly used to be able to read you so well." Punk nodded to her, "Now… I don't know what the hell you're thinking, or what the hell you want." He said.

"You and me both." AJ nodded bluntly as Punk looked at her.

"Ready." Jude appeared, giving her mother a hug.

"Have fun." AJ smiled, kissing Jude's cheek, watching her give her father a big hug, "Not too late, you have school in the morning." AJ reminded Jude who just nodded, walking away with her father as AJ watched and sighed.

She remembered fondly the days she'd sit on the front step, watching Punk teach the girls how to ride their bikes on their own. Simpler and better times than this.

She headed back into the house, closing the door over and walking back into the living room where Cassie was fast asleep. AJ closed the drapes over and turned the TV down, making sure the blanket was tucked up over Cassie before heading into the kitchen.

She picked up her phone, growing nervous about Thea's whereabouts. The worry was always there. Worry about a possible relapse. It wasn't that she didn't trust her daughter, it was just different when it came to addiction.

"Hey, I'm just checking in to see where you are… what you're up to?" AJ sat down at the table, leaving a message for Thea on the phone, "I know you said you had afternoon classes and… well you must be at the library or with friends or something." AJ laughed nervously, "Just text me and let me know you're good." AJ nodded calmly, "I'll see you when you get home." She said, looking at the clock as she hung up.

It wasn't right to not hear from her daughter all day and night. Even on her worst nights, years ago, she always got a text or a call. They'd be drunken or high calls, but they were something. It was never just nothing.

* * *

"Please just take me home." Thea said quietly, sitting in the passenger's side of the car as Jackson parked up in a motel, "I don't know why you're doing this." She said, turning her face and looking at him.

"Just get out the car." Jackson said, getting out of the car as Thea stepped out, watching him collect a bag before taking her by the hand and walking towards the motel.

"Don't touch me." Thea snapped, ripping her hand away angrily. She was in shock, confused, so hurt by the way he was acting. And for what reason? She didn't understand.

"Just hurry up." Jackson shook his head, walking up the stairs as Thea followed, walking behind him along the row of motel rooms before he stopped outside one and opened it up.

He walked on in as Thea followed, watching him close the door behind him and throw his bag down.

"What the hell is this?" Thea shook her head.

"We'll get up early tomorrow morning and we'll head off. I've got a cousin in New York. We can go there, stay with him for a bit until we get our own place-"

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you?" Thea shook her head, "I am not… leaving this place-"

"This place? This place you hate so much?" Jackson asked, "Why do you wanna stay? You wanna stay for your boyfriend? That guy you're seeing-"

"Tell me. Jesus Christ, tell me that isn't what this is about?" Thea laughed, "Because you're smaller than I thought if it is-"

"Well what do you expect?" Jackson shook his head, "This is what we do, right? We fight, we make back up-"

"You kidnap me and take me to New York? I don't remember us doing that?" Thea shook her head.

"We can get out of here. Don't you want that?" Jackson shook his head.

"Even if I did, I'm not going anywhere with you dragging me around like some infant. Like I'm incapable of my own decisions." Thea said, "And actually no, I don't want to leave this place. I have my mom, my little sisters, my… my degree at college that I'm actually doing well at-"

"Your AA meetings with your new boyfriend?" Jackson added.

"God, this is actually what this is about, isn't it? You're jealous." Thea nodded, "He's a friend. He actually gets me. Understands me-"

"And I didn't?" Jackson questioned.

"Not really. No. If I wanted to drink, you handed me the bottle." Thea said.

"That was before you took it too far." Jackson spat as Thea shook her head.

"No… no, you liked me when I was like that. When you could tell me what to do. Control me." Thea nodded to him, "I was drunk but I wasn't unconscious. I remember things. Things I would let go because I thought it was my fault." Thea said, "So this was your way of trying to get back together with me?" Thea questioned.

"Well it was gonna happen anyway, I just sped the process up." Jackson nodded.

"You're so sure of that?" Thea questioned as Jackson nodded.

"Someone would disappoint you soon and you'd come running back to me, crying like a baby." Jackson rolled his eyes.

"Are you completely unaware that you just grabbed me from my car and took me here, unwillingly?" Thea questioned, "I'm not going anywhere with you." She made clear to him.

"Yes you are." Jackson nodded, "We're leaving here tomorrow morning." He told her as Thea looked across at him.

"I'm leaving right now." Thea said calmly, "I am walking out of that door and going home."

"No. You're not." Jackson shook his head, "You're mine. And we're leaving this place together."

"I'm not yours." Thea spat, walking away towards the door as Jackson grabbed her and threw her back onto the bed.

"Just sit there and shut up!" Jackson yelled as Thea leaned back on her elbows, looking up at him as he towered over her, "Now you're gonna just… shut up and stay here. We're leaving tomorrow and… that's that." He said, running his hands through his hair as Thea watched him.

She didn't even recognise him. He was like a different person. His jealousy, his possessiveness over her was showing in the darkest of forms that she'd never seen before, and she was terrified of him.

"You're scaring me." Thea said truthfully, starting to worry as she sat on the edge of the bed. She was scared to move again in case he hurt her.

"Just sit there." Jackson shook his head, walking over to his bag and pulling out some things as Thea watched.

"What the hell is that?" Thea shook her head, noticing the white powder she saw in her nightmares, feeling her skin tightening, suffocating her.

"Something to calm you down." Jackson nodded as Thea watched.

"Why are you doing this?" Thea asked tearfully.

"What?" Jackson threw his hands up, walking over to her, "We can get out of here." He cupped her cheeks roughly as Thea looked at him, "Get away from everything that makes you miserable here. Your fucking dad. Your sisters. Your mom who… let's face it, it'd be a weight lifted off her shoulders if you disappeared out of her life." He nodded as tears streamed down Thea's cheeks.

"Stop it." Thea cried, trying to push his hands away but not having enough strength.

"It's me and you. Not you and anybody else." Jackson nodded, "I love you and we're gonna get out of here." He smiled as Thea looked at him with fear.


	65. Searching

**Searching**

* * *

"Phil, wait…" AJ ran out of the living room, hearing Punk dropping Jude off later on that night, "Hey." AJ ran to the door as Punk turned back around.

"You ok?" Punk asked with confusion.

"Uh… no, not really. Thea still hasn't come home yet." AJ said as Punk looked across at her, "I've not heard from her all day." She said, "And I'm kinda worried."

"Where did she go?" Punk asked.

"She had afternoon classes. I'm sure she left the house at 10 maybe." AJ nodded, "But I've called and text her but she's not got to me. She's never like this. She always calls me on her way out of a class or she at least drops me a text." She said, "And it's…" AJ looked over at the clock, "Almost 11."

"You think she's gone out?" Punk asked her.

"I don't know." AJ shook her head, "She has no reason to, she's been doing good." AJ sighed, running her hand through her hair as Punk watched her, "I don't know I'm hoping maybe she's just at the library or she's gone out to see a movie with her friends or something." AJ nodded hopefully.

"Yeah, maybe… maybe that's what she's done." Punk nodded hopefully, "I'll go to the college and see if she's there." He nodded to her.

"Ok." AJ nodded, "Ok, please call me if you find her."

"I will." Punk nodded, "Try not to worry." He said, noticing how worried she was. It was just a glimpse of the stress she'd had to deal with for so many years. He didn't know how she did it.

"Thea and worrying come hand in hand." AJ nodded.

"Just go have a coffee and I'll call you." Punk told her as she nodded, watching him walk off briskly as AJ shut the door over and sighed to herself.

"Is she drinking again?" Jude asked as AJ turned around.

"N-No… no, I…" AJ paused, "I don't know." She corrected herself, "I just know that she's been doing so well, so good." AJ shook her head as Jude nodded.

"Maybe she's just with some friends, seeing a movie or something." Jude nodded, noticing how pale and worried sick her mother looked.

"Yeah, maybe." AJ nodded, "How was the ice-cream?" She asked Jude, giving her a tight hug.

"The ice-cream was good." Jude chuckled a little, hugging her mother back, "I'm sad Cassie didn't get to come, though."

"She was out cold." AJ nodded, pulling back to the hug, "She was tired from soccer practise so I suggested to your dad to maybe do things at the weekend with her, rather than on a school night." She nodded.

"Yeah, that's probably better." Jude agreed as AJ nodded, fidgeting with her hands and looking back at the door, "I'll make you a coffee." Jude nodded to AJ, walking on down to the kitchen as AJ ran her hands through her hair.

* * *

Punk headed to Thea's college and due to the car park being pretty much empty at such a late time at night, he noticed Thea's car was still there, which gave him the worst feeling of anxiety in his stomach.

He walked over to the car and noticed the keys sitting on the ground. He picked them up and unlocked the car, opening the door and groaning as he saw Thea's bag still sitting in the passenger's seat.

He pulled it over and found her phone inside, which he could see had all the messages and missed calls from AJ on it. He for sure thought he was going to find her at the library, or she would have made her way home whilst he was out looking for her, but this began to concern him to a whole new level.

He locked the car and headed into the college grounds to look around. He saw a few students walking around, but he didn't know who would even know Thea. He didn't know who her friends were or what their names were, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Excuse me." Punk said politely to a girl who was standing at a table counting money.

"Yeah?" Laura asked.

"I uh… I'm looking for Thea Mendez. She had classes here this afternoon. Do you know if she's still here?" Punk asked her.

"Uh… no, well… I spoke to Thea earlier on. She let us wash her car." Laura nodded, "But she never came into class. Her car has been sitting there all day." She shook her head, with equal confusion.

"You're in her class?" Punk asked.

"Yeah, all of them." Laura nodded, "She never made any of the classes today, which I thought was weird since she was parked here all day." Laura said, "Who are you?"

"Her dad." Punk nodded, "She's definitely not in the library or something?" Punk sighed.

"Thea in a library?" Laura chuckled to herself as Punk stared at her, not in the mood for joking, "Uh… no, our library shuts at 11." Laura nodded, more seriously once she realised he wasn't impressed with joking around.

"Who are her friends? Where do they hang out? Which bars and clubs?" Punk asked.

"She hangs around with Kerry and Louise, but they're on placement this week so there's no way they're out clubbing." Laura said.

"Then just tell me the usual clubs they go to." Punk nodded.

* * *

"Please just let me go home." Thea shook her head, "Do you think this is the way to get back together with me? By… by kidnapping me?" She questioned.

"Don't be dramatic." Jackson scoffed as Thea watched him.

She couldn't believe he was doing this. He was treating her like this. Like she belonged to him and that was all she was worth. He'd completely lost his mind it seemed like, and she'd never been more scared.

"Jackson." Thea sighed, "Hey, I don't know what's going on with you right now." Thea said, trying to stay calm as she walked over to him, "But this… this won't help. Ok, you're scaring me." She made clear, "And I know you'd never want to do that." She nodded, reaching out and taking his hand as he looked at her, "Please… just let me go home."

"Have you slept with him?" Jackson asked, completely focused on nothing but leaving with her.

"What?" Thea shook her head.

"This guy from your meetings, Dominic… you slept with him?" Jackson asked, "It's not like you take much convincing-"

Thea slapped him hard across the face angrily as he looked down at her, "I haven't slept with him." Thea spat, "He's just a friend."

"Sure." Jackson nodded, "But he gets you. He understands you." He said, walking around Thea in circles, "But he doesn't know you. I know you. And it is supposed to be me and you together." He said as Thea watched him.

"You ruined your chance of being with me when you dragged me into your car and decided to kidnap me." Thea made clear, "So let me go." She spat.

"Don't you want a fresh start? Get away from this miserable place? Your dad is the reason you hate it. You feel guilty for what you've put your mom through. Your sisters think you're a joke." Jackson spat as Thea looked at him, "So why not get out?"

"Is that how you look at it? Is that how you've always looked at me?" Thea questioned. To see and hear someone speak so low of her, someone she trusted and loved very much, it wasn't something she'd experienced before.

"Come on. You know I love you." Jackson nodded, cupping her face, "I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don't want to see you suffering or in pain." He said.

"You've brought a supply of cocaine with you." Thea noticed, "Why?"

"I thought you could use a little pick me up, that's all." Jackson said, "It'll ease your mind."

"If you cared about me, you'd never do this." Thea shook her head. Having someone use her weaknesses, her biggest struggles against her, in order to put her down was something quite heart-breaking, something she never imagined him doing to her, "If this is really about Dominic, then you need to get over it. He is just a friend. I see him once a week."

"No, it's about us. Us getting out of here and starting something new-"

"I don't want to go anywhere with you." Thea spat.

"You know this is your dad's fucking fault. The way you are right now." Jackson said angrily.

"I've never changed. I'm the same person I've always been." Thea made clear.

"He's the reason you're so fucking hard to read." Jackson spat angrily, knocking the chair over as Thea watched.

"Maybe if you never put him in prison, I wouldn't be like this then." Thea said bluntly as Jackson turned to her, grabbing her by the neck and pushing her against the nearest wall.

"Sounds like someone wants their dad." Jackson spat as Thea looked at him, trying to stay calm as he held her around the throat.

"He'll kill you." Thea said calmly.

"He got everything he deserved and you know it." Jackson said, "I did the world a favour getting rid of him. I used to feel bad about it but… it's what he deserves." He said, "But I don't think prison was really the punishment in all of this." He shook his head as Thea looked at him, "No, his punishment didn't start until he got out, when he saw how his sweet, innocent little Thea turned into a nasty, cheap little crackwhore." Jackson spat as Thea looked at him.

"I hate you." Thea whispered as Jackson let her go and pushed her over as Thea leaned against the wall, looking over at him.

She watched as he grabbed the drugs and emptied them out onto the table, making lines as Thea gulped. She immediately ran for the door, not being able to stand there and watch, but when she got to the door, it was locked.

"I locked the door and I have the key." Jackson shook his head as Thea looked over at him, watching as he done a line.

"How long have you been taking that?" Thea looked across at him.

"Years." Jackson said, "Unlike you, I know when I've had enough." He said as Thea looked across at him. She assumed it was the drugs that was making him act like this, but it seemed so much more personal.

"Please let me go home." Thea shook her head, "You can't… you can't expect me to want to come with you when you're treating me like this." Thea shook her head with confusion.

"Just get over here." Jackson shook his head, walking over and grabbing her by the arm.

"No… what are you doing?" Thea tried to resist, pulling herself back as he grabbed her over, "Please stop." Thea begged.

"You know how good it feels." Jackson whispered in her ear as Thea looked down at the table, pausing, "You'll feel so much better." He nodded.

* * *

AJ jumped up the minute she heard a car pulling up outside. She of course thought it was Thea, her heart racing as she ran out to the door and walked outside, but paused when she saw Punk got out of Thea's car.

"W-What… what's going on?" AJ questioned as Punk looked across at her, holding Thea's bag, "What?"

"Her car was still at college and she never… she never went to her classes." Punk shook his head, "So I checked the clubs and bars she goes to and she wasn't in any. I even asked the owners and they said she hadn't been in." Punk said, "And then I realised… of course she hasn't, because her wallet is still here in her purse." He said as AJ took it from him, staring blankly.

"W-What? Well where is she?" AJ spat.

"I found her keys on the ground outside her car." Punk said as AJ looked at him, "I've called Dean, he's gonna get some of the guys from the docks out looking for her. Check hotels and motels." He nodded, "And I think we have to call the cops too." He nodded.

"W-What?" AJ shook her head, "N-No… she, she's out with her friends or… she's just somewhere around here." AJ nodded to herself.

"She doesn't have her wallet or her phone." Punk said as AJ looked at him with disbelief. She knew what he was trying to say, she just didn't want to believe it.

"Phil." AJ looked at him with worry as Punk nodded.

"I know." Punk nodded, "I know, we just…" Punk took a deep breath, "We'll stay out looking for her, we'll call the cops." He said, "Is there anyone you think she could be with?"

"N-No, I… she just…" AJ paused for a second, "The guy from the AA meetings." AJ thought to herself, "She said she met a friend there, he talks to her, they have coffee…" AJ nodded, "Maybe she's with him." AJ nodded.

"Ok, what's his name?" Punk asked.

"Dominic." AJ said, "I don't know his second name. Go to the town hall and ask for a list." She said.

"Ok." Punk nodded, "Call Jackson, she might have went with him or… he picked her up in his car, I don't know." He said as AJ nodded.

"I should be out looking-"

"No, you stay here with Jude and Cassie. Keep your phone on you too." Punk nodded, "She'll be fine… we'll… we'll find her." Punk nodded to himself. He'd never been so scared, and he'd spent eight years in prison. Something about this just didn't feel good at all.


	66. In Time

**In Time**

* * *

"I'm gonna go check down by the docks. She loved going there as a kid." Dean nodded, briskly walking down the street with Punk in the pouring rain as Punk nodded, "You going to that guy's house?"

"Yeah, it's just here." Punk nodded.

"Don't do anything crazy." Dean said, "Call me if she's there." He said, running off down the street as Punk nodded.

The good thing about having a reputation and being a well-known person in the area, was having all of these people willing to help him look for Thea. It was just a respect thing, having grown up with these people since he was little. They looked out for one another at the end of the day.

Punk had gotten the full name and address for Dominic. When it came to his level of concern and worry for Thea, he wasn't stopping for no one and nothing until he found her safe and well. It was a dreadful feeling of unknown looming over all of them.

He approached the door of the house, knocking on it loudly and waiting in the rain until Dominic eventually came to the door, opening it up with confusion.

"Can I help-"

"Is she in there?" Punk asked, "Is Thea in there?" He questioned, barging into the house as Dominic look stunned. Punk's emotions were starting to loosen uncontrollably as time went by.

"What?" Dominic shook his head, "Who the hell do you think you are?" Dominic questioned as Punk ran upstairs, "Excuse me?!" Dominic yelled, standing with confusion and shock.

Punk ran upstairs, opening up all the room doors and looking around. He shook his head and ran back downstairs as Dominic grabbed a hold of him.

"Who the fuck are you?" Dominic questioned as Punk looked at him, removing Dominic's hands from him slowly and staring at him with a stern look.

"Thea's dad." Punk said as Dominic looked at him, "She's not came home tonight. And she's not got her phone or wallet. Her car was at college all day but she never got to class so…"

"Hey, man… she's not here." Dominic shook his head, "God, is… do you think something happened to her?" He asked as Punk walked away into the kitchen to search, "I swear she's not here." Dominic called as Punk looked around the kitchen and into the living room. He just had to be sure.

"You have any idea where she could be? She tell you anything we need to know?" Punk walked out of the living room, standing at the doorway with Dominic.

"No, she's… she's been fine. Last I saw her was after our meeting." Dominic said as Punk nodded slowly, "Last meeting we had her ex came in and was all weird with her. She got kinda quiet after that-"

"Jackson?" Punk questioned.

"I can't remember his name. But yeah, her ex." Dominic nodded as Punk looked at him with concern, "Hey, can I do anything to help? You need me to do anything?" He asked with concern. In the short time he'd known Thea, he had grown to care about her. To hear anything bad happened to her would be devastating.

"Yeah you can get out here and look around." Punk nodded. He wouldn't turn down help.

"Sure." Dominic nodded, "I'll cover all the ground I can." He said as Punk nodded.

* * *

"I am not taking that!" Thea yelled angrily, getting out of Jackson's grips and backing away, "Why are you doing this to me?" She cried. She couldn't believe someone she valued so much in her life was making her feel so scared and small.

"You do this to yourself." Jackson shook his head.

"You have ruined any chance of me ever getting back with you." Thea made clear, "If this is the real you, I want nothing to do with you." She spat, "My dad was right about you." She realised.

"Oh, yeah. Now you're gonna listen to daddy?" Jackson chuckled.

"You turned my life upside down, you ruined my entire family." Thea shook her head, "And all along I thought you were the one person who made everything better." She said, "And I cared about you."

"I care about you." Jackson nodded, "That's why I wanna get us out of here, where it's just me and you. No one else." He said, walking over to her, "Imagine it. Our own place. A fresh start." He pulled her in by the waist as Thea looked at him with disgust, "We could get married and… and have kids." Jackson smiled as Thea glared at him.

"You have lost your damn mind." Thea spat, pushing him back, "You see me chatting with some guy and this is what… you snapping?" She questioned, "If you can't have me, no one can?" She questioned.

"Well, in simple terms, yes." Jackson nodded, "I love you. I love all of you." He cupped her face, pushing her back against the wall as Thea groaned.

She just couldn't figure it out. Was it his true colours showing? Was it the drugs he was taking? Was this just who he was? Who he was always going to be?

She looked at him, noticing his phone over by the bag. She knew she had to come up with a plan, or else she was being dragged into a car in the morning and heading off to God knows where, and right now, she couldn't think of anything worse.

"I love you too." Thea nodded slowly. It was her only thought. To play him and find an opening to get out of here.

"You do." Jackson nodded, cupping her face and smiling.

"I do." Thea nodded, placing her hands on his chest, "I do love you and… and maybe I do want to go to New York. It'd… it'd be fun." She smiled, running her hands down his chest, "All the time we'd have together." She smiled, playing with the loop of his belt as Jackson chuckled.

"We think alike." Jackson smiled, reaching down and grabbing her ass as Thea tightened a little, trying to relax.

"Mhm." Thea smiled, "Why don't you… go take a shower and I will unpack." Thea nodded as Jackson looked at her, tilting her chin up and looking into her eyes.

"Why don't you come shower with me?" He asked as Thea nodded.

"Ok, you go start the shower, I'll get my things." She nodded to him.

"Ok." Jackson smirked, walking away into the bathroom. It was all she could think of. She had no other way out. She knew he had the key in his pocket, but the phone was her only option.

She watched him walk away into the bathroom, immediately running over and grabbing his phone. She was thankful she knew her mother's cell by heart, immediately dialling.

It only let out one ring before AJ picked up right away.

"Mom… mom, I'm with Jackson at… at the sunset motel, I… I don't know what's wrong with him but he wants to take me to New York and he's hurting me and I don't know why-"

"What the fuck are you doing?" Jackson spat as Thea immediately hung up on the phone and tossed it over.

"Nothing." Thea shook her head.

"Who were you talking to?" Jackson questioned, walking over to her and grabbing the phone, "You called your mom?" He questioned as Thea looked at him.

"N-No, I just… I called her just to let her know I'm safe." Thea said calmly, "That's all." She assured him.

"You think I don't know when you're lying?" Jackson asked.

"Well I had to let her know I'm ok. She'd be worried." Thea said.

"Story of that woman's fucking life. Worrying about you." Jackson shook his head as Thea watched him, "Maybe we should just leave tonight." He said, "The roads will be quiet through the night, I guess." He nodded to himself.

"N-No… no, let's leave in the morning." Thea nodded.

"Nah, we'll leave tonight." Jackson nodded, "But I don't need you in my ear the entire time so just… get those lines in you." He pointed to the drugs as Thea looked at them.

"Why would you want me to do this?" Thea questioned, "You know what I went through."

"Yeah, well you're a lot fucking easier to deal with when you're out of your face." Jackson said, "So just, hurry up and do it. And then we can go."

"I'm not taking the drugs." Thea spat, "And I'm not going anywhere with you." She made clear. She couldn't not fight for herself. She couldn't let him treat her this way.

"Thea, just fucking do it." Jackson said, "That stuff not good enough for you? Huh? You want better stuff?" He asked, walking over to his bag as Thea watched.

She watched him pull out a needle and band, immediately backing away with terror.

"Get the fuck away from me with that." Thea spat, "Don't come near me." She pointed. Having been involved with drugs, she knew a lot about it, and she knew when needles came into play, it was pretty much lights out.

"If you do it right, it's good." Jackson assured her, "Come on, it'll relax you. You know you wanna feel good again, right?" He nodded.

"I can't believe you're doing this to me." Thea shook her head. She'd lost all hope in trust, and love. Having thought she knew this man, this boy she grew up with. Someone she thought would love and protect her always. It was the ultimate betrayal and the ultimate shock.

"You'll love it. You know you will." Jackson nodded, taking the band and walking towards her.

"Please go away. Please don't." Thea shook her head as he grabbed her by the back of the neck.

She began fighting with him, having no choice. Slamming him into the TV cabinet as he slapped her across the face. But she didn't let it stop her, she kicked him and pulled at his eyes as he banged her up against the wall, both of them fighting a real fight, knocking things over in the process.

Jackson eventually pinned her down on the motel floor, holding her other arm down as he got the band on her free arm.

* * *

"AJ said it was this motel." Punk said, running down the road with Dean, "I can go on my own." He said, running into the motel car park.

"Dude, I'm coming. I don't trust what you'll do to him." Dean said.

"Don't even think about pulling me off of him." Punk said, running into the motel check-in area and asking for Jackson's room number, getting a spare key for it after threatening the poor man at the desk. He had no choice. He was in fear for his daughter's life and he wasn't letting anyone stop him from getting to her.

"I'll wait down here." Dean nodded as Punk ran up the motel stairs.

AJ phoned him as soon as Thea called her, frantically telling him what she said on the phone call and where she was. He was filled with anger, rage, so many emotions. Eight years gone or not, the level of protectiveness and the love he had for his daughter remained the same since the day he held her in his arms for the first time.

He ran down the motel strip of rooms, getting to the one which he was directed to, putting the key in the lock and turning it as he burst into the room.

He saw Thea on the floor, being held down by Jackson who he saw had a needle in his hand. It was self-explanatory, Punk knew what he was seeing and he was ready to unleash.

Jackson dropped the needle on the floor, backing up off of Thea who crawled over to the corner of the room, watching as her father grabbed Jackson and threw him into the TV.

"You're done." Punk spat, pulling Jackson up again and sending him crashing into the mirror hanging on the wall, smashing to a million pieces as Jackson slumped down onto the ground.

Punk paused, remembering what his middle daughter had told him, about the consequences to his actions. He heard her voice, telling him to think about this, and so he stepped back breathlessly.

He turned around and saw Thea crouched in the corner, shaking as she looked on.

"Hey." Punk sighed, walking over to her, noticing she had cuts and bruises around her face, "Hey, it's ok. It's ok." Punk nodded to her, extending his hand out as she grabbed onto it tightly.

As he pulled her up to her feet, she simply collapsed into him, her arms wrapping around him as she cried into his shoulder.

"Shh, I know." Punk nodded, holding her as tightly as he could. It was the first time since he got out that he'd gotten to hug her. He wished it was under better circumstances, but to hold her and feel her hug him tightly was a relief in every sense of the word.

"Please get me out of here." Thea cried into him as Punk nodded.

Punk nodded, wrapping his arm around her as he began to leave the motel when they both heard a clicking noise, turning around.

"I told you she was coming with me!" Jackson yelled, holding a gun up as Punk pushed Thea behind him and stared across at him.


	67. Flipped

**Flipped**

* * *

"Put down the gun." Punk warned as Jackson stood across the room, pointing the gun at him.

"Then leave us alone and go away." Jackson nodded, "She's not going with you."

"You and I both know that she's leaving here, with me." Punk made clear, "So just put down the gun before someone gets really hurt." He nodded as Jackson looked at him.

"She's coming with me. We're leaving this place." Jackson said.

"She's not going anywhere." Punk said, keeping Thea behind him at all times, "I don't know what's wrong with you, but I think you might need some help." He nodded, "Because this isn't how you treat someone you love-"

"What would you know about that?" Jackson laughed, "What would you know about treating people you love the right way? Everyone you love, you've caused them pain." Jackson spat.

"I never pointed a gun at them." Punk said, "And I never wanted to hurt them, ever." He said as Jackson stared at him, "I don't know if it's drugs or if you need some… mental help." Punk said, "But no one needs to get hurt. Not any more than what they already are." He said as Jackson looked at him.

"She needs to get away from you." Jackson said, "From everyone here." He said.

"If she did, that would be her decision, but right now… she wants to go home. Let her." Punk nodded.

"No." Jackson shook his head, walking towards Punk with the gun still up, "She's staying here with me." He made clear, "I will shoot you." He spat as Thea moved out from behind Punk.

"Please put the gun down." Thea nodded, "You don't have to do this. You don't have to hurt anyone."

"Then tell your dad to leave and we can go." Jackson nodded.

"I'm not leaving this motel room." Punk made clear, "Is this how you treat people you care about? Pin them down and… and inject them with drugs? For what?" He shook his head, "You wanna see someone you love in pain? Struggling?" He asked, walking further towards Jackson. He wasn't afraid of a gun.

"Get back!" Jackson yelled.

"You pull that trigger, she'll probably kill you." Punk pointed back to Thea who watched nervously, "And if she doesn't, Jude will kill you. And if she doesn't, my wife… yeah… she'd finish you in a heartbeat." Punk nodded, "Or maybe my brother… he's just down in the car park right now." He said as Jackson looked at him, "I did some bad things in my life, but my family is still there, even if it's complicated." Punk said, "So pull the trigger. See what happens next." He nodded as Jackson looked at him fearfully.

"You don't scare me." Jackson said.

"I'm not trying to scare you." Punk said, "Or… you pull the trigger, you go to prison for many, many years." He nodded, "And take it from me, prison is a whole other world." He said as Jackson looked across at him.

"You'd know, wouldn't you?" Jackson nodded.

"I would, thanks to you." Punk nodded.

"I'm glad I put you in there. It's where people like you belong." Jackson nodded, "Your entire family was better off without you." Jackson said, pressing the gun against Punk's chest as Thea watched apprehensively.

"Jackson, please." Thea begged, shaking her head as Punk looked at Jackson, quickly grabbing the gun from him and throwing it behind him, grabbing Jackson by the throat and pinning him against the wall.

"Listen to me closely." Punk said, "Right now everything in my body is telling me to beat you for what you did tonight." He nodded, "For how you've treated my daughter." He said, "But I'm not gonna do that." He shook his head, "I want you to leave, go to wherever you were planning to go with Thea, on your own, and do not come back." Punk spat as Jackson looked at him, "And when I say do not come back, I mean it." Punk stared at him as Jackson gulped.

"Thea, go tell Dean you're good and tell him to wait at the stairs. Jackson is going down to get in his car and leave this place." Punk said as Thea looked over, stumbling back out of the motel and running off to find her uncle.

"You ruined her." Jackson whispered, "You were the cause to all her suffering." He said.

"And I thought you were the guy who was there for her." Punk nodded, "Funny how perspectives work." He spat, "If you go anywhere near her again, I swear." Punk whispered in his ear, "I know people in this town, people you don't wanna get on the wrong side of." He spat, "Go anywhere near Thea or any of my family again… it won't end well for you." Punk spat.

"See… people like you don't change." Jackson said.

"You treat my daughter how you treated her tonight, you're lucky you're still breathing." Punk spat, letting Jackson go, "Now get your things, take your gun, and go down to your car, drive the fuck out of our lives." Punk spat, walking over to the door as he waited.

He looked down the railings where Dean and Thea were standing, watching the blue flashing lights coming into the car park, looking into the room where Jackson grabbed his bag and picked up the gun.

Punk watched as Jackson walked out of the motel room, noticing the cops getting out of the car.

"What the hell?" Jackson turned around to Punk who shrugged.

"I didn't call them." Punk said truthfully. He didn't. He know who did.

Punk watched as the cops came up the stairs, leaving Jackson no place to run as they immediately made him put the gun down, taking it very seriously of course as Punk stood back and watched.

He looked on as Jackson was handcuffed and arrested, pulled down the stairs as Punk followed, joining where Thea and Dean were.

"You call them?" Punk nodded to Thea.

"N-No." Thea looked up at him, "Did you?"

"No." Punk said with confusion, looking to his brother.

"Wasn't me." Dean said as Punk watched a car pulling up into the car park, barely parking in a parking space, watching AJ get out of the car and slam the door shut, running over as Thea noticed.

"Mom." Thea cried.

"Oh my God." AJ cried with relief, colliding with Thea as she wrapped her arms around her tightly as Punk watched with a smile, as did Dean.

Of course, the smartest woman he knew was there for back-up, just like she was his entire life.

"You reckon he's lost his mind?" Dean asked Punk, watching as they put Jackson in a cop car, "I mean… honestly, he was always nice and polite, didn't see this coming." Dean admitted truthfully.

"Kid had a shit load of drugs in his bag." Punk whispered to Dean, "It's either that or he's got some mental problems." Punk shook his head as Dean nodded.

"She ok?" Dean asked Punk, looking over to Thea who was still in a tight embrace with AJ as Punk looked over.

"I don't really know." Punk shook his head, "I don't know what this will do to her." He admitted as Dean nodded.

"Go over. Check on her." Dean patted Punk on the arm as Punk nodded, walking on over to where AJ and Thea were.

"Hey." Punk said as AJ looked over at him as did Thea, "You ok?" He asked Thea who nodded.

"Thank you." Thea nodded to him as Punk smiled, watching as she walked over to him and hugged him willingly, wrapping her arms around him tightly as Punk smiled, hugging her back just as tight whilst AJ watched with a smile.

Punk held onto the hug for as long as Thea gave it, cherishing it with all his heart. As if the hug wasn't the best feeling in the world, it made it even better that he could feel how tight Thea was hugging him.

"You're ok?" Punk nodded as she pulled back.

"Yeah." Thea nodded. She wasn't sure if she was ok. Truthfully, she was still in shock and disbelief.

"Thea? Can we speak to you?" A police officer approached them as Thea looked over.

"Uh… yeah." Thea nodded nervously.

"It's ok." AJ nodded, rubbing Thea's back softly as she nodded, walking over with the police officer whilst Punk turned to AJ.

"Did you call the cops?" Punk asked her.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "I… I knew you'd try to fix it on your own but I didn't know what was going on and I panicked, I just thought it was the best decision. I left the girls with Sam." AJ said as Punk nodded.

"It's probably for the best." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"What happened?" AJ asked, afraid to ask as Punk turned to her.

"I… I don't know much. I got in and he was on top of her-"

"Oh my God." AJ shook her head, placing her hand over her mouth.

"He had a needle in his hand and… you know where it's going." Punk said as AJ shook her head with confusion.

"Why would he do this?" AJ asked, "I mean I… I never doubted that he cared for Thea. I thought he did. I never had to worry about that." She said, "But obviously I was wrong."

"I don't think he's well." Punk said, "He's probably on drugs and… drugs can make people do stupid things-"

"I know." AJ assured him, looking over at Thea who was talking to the police officer, "I think she's lucky she had you tonight." She nodded to him.

"I'm her dad." Punk said.

"Yes you are." AJ nodded, "She looks like she's in shock." AJ nodded.

"I would be too. Clearly she didn't anticipate this happening. She obviously trusted him and cared about him." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"We gotta be there for her." AJ nodded, "All of us." She looked up at him as he nodded.

"Yeah." Punk agreed. If there was a time for them all to come together, putting their differences aside, it was now.


	68. Family

**Family**

* * *

"I'll call you in the morning to let you know how she is." AJ nodded, getting home with Thea later that night.

It took some time at the motel for the police to talk to Thea and Punk. They even said they could be pulled into the station tomorrow for more statements, but for now they were free to go home. AJ just wanted to get Thea home and into bed. She looked like she was still in shock and disbelief over what happened.

"Yeah, please do." Punk nodded, "And let me do anything I can to help." He said as AJ nodded.

"I will." AJ assured him, "Do you think he'll go to prison? Do time?" AJ asked.

"Well he had a loaded weapon and he had a ton of drugs on him. He could do some time definitely." Punk nodded.

"I don't know how Thea is gonna deal with this. He's… he's always been there for her. I never thought he'd do this." AJ sighed, "It's honestly the last thing she needs, to be scared to trust people again." AJ shook her head.

"I don't know what happened to him. The kid maybe needs some help, mental help. Maybe it does stem back from him putting me in prison." Punk shrugged, "And the drugs certainly wouldn't help any mental health condition he had." He said.

"No, definitely not." AJ shook her head.

"I don't know what actually happened in that room. She'll open up to you before she would to me so… just take it a little bit at a time." Punk said as she nodded.

"I just wanna get her cleaned up and into bed." AJ said as Punk nodded, "I'm just scared she's gonna relapse. She's worked so hard. She's trying so hard." AJ shook her head, getting upset as Punk sighed to himself and nodded.

"She's strong." Punk nodded, "Like her mom." He said as AJ looked at him, "We just gotta be there for her, in whatever way she needs us."

"Yeah." AJ nodded, drying her tears, "I should get in and see if she's ok."

"Of course." Punk nodded, "Just remember to call me in the morning."

"I will." AJ assured him, watching as he turned around to leave, "Phil." AJ said as Punk turned around.

"Yeah?" Punk looked over at her.

"Thank you for tonight." AJ nodded. She saw his protectiveness and his love shine through so brightly tonight. He really wasn't stopping until he found Thea, even if he had to search the whole of Chicago. That proved to her he really was the same man she'd always loved.

"Please don't thank me." Punk shook his head, "She's my daughter. Anything happened to her I'd lose it." Punk nodded, "Even if she… doesn't want me in her life-"

"You and I both know that's not true." AJ nodded softly.

"We'll see." Punk nodded, "Goodnight." He said.

"Goodnight." AJ said, watching as he left the house, closing the door over and locking it behind her as she headed upstairs and made her way into Thea's bedroom where she was sitting on her bed.

"Hey." AJ smiled softly.

"My… My uh… my car is still at college, and my bag is in it with my wallet and-"

"Your dad drove it round earlier. Your bag is downstairs with all that stuff in it." AJ assured her.

"Oh, ok." Thea nodded.

"Do you want me to help you clean up?" AJ asked, referring to her face of course which was a little cut up and bruised.

"Ok." Thea nodded, standing up and walking on through to the bathroom as AJ followed, "Make it quick, I really just want to go to bed." Thea said. That was all she knew right now. She wanted to go to bed and sleep, forget it all.

"Ok. Sit down." AJ nodded as Thea sat down on the closed toilet seat whilst AJ got the first aid kit out from under the sink, "How'd you get these cuts?" AJ asked her, even though she had a hunch.

"He pushed me into some things and… hit me a few times." Thea nodded as AJ looked over at her, trying to keep her composure as she got things out of the first aid kit, "He wanted me to do drugs again." Thea shook her head, "Why would he do that?" She questioned. She was just so hurt and confused.

"Baby, I think that he might need some help." AJ nodded, cleaning Thea's face from the dried in blood and dirt, "I don't think his mind is in a good place." AJ shook her head. It was all she could say to try and comfort her daughter.

"I thought he cared about me." Thea said quietly, "He's been around for so long."

"I know." AJ sighed, "People… people can change." AJ nodded as Thea nodded along with her.

"Ok, I just want to go to bed." Thea said, moving her mother's hands away from her face.

"Do you need anything? A drink or something?" AJ asked her.

"Vodka would be good." Thea mumbled, walking out of the bathroom and into her bedroom as AJ heard the door close over, sighing to herself as she tidied the first aid kit away.

"Mom." Jude came out of her room, standing at the bathroom door.

"Hey." AJ turned around.

"Is Thea ok?" Jude asked, "Was she drinking?" She questioned with concern.

"No, no she wasn't drinking." AJ shook her head, "She's ok but… you go downstairs and I'll be there in a minute. I'll tell you what happened." She said as Jude nodded, wandering off downstairs. She was always honest with her daughters, and the more people who knew what happened, were more people that could understand and help Thea right now, especially Jude.

* * *

"Do you want me to try get word inside the station? See what's going on?" Dean asked as Punk showed up to the house later on after leaving AJ's house.

"No, just… just let it be." Punk nodded, walking on through to the kitchen.

"How is Thea?" Dean asked.

"I didn't really see her. She just went straight into the house and upstairs. She's still in shock, I think." Punk said, "I mean… you think someone cares about you and they do that to you?" He shook his head, "Took everything in me not to just… beat him into the ground."

"But you didn't." Dean said positively as Punk looked over at him, "Yeah, it would have felt good at the time but… it wouldn't have served any purpose. And you realised that."

"I guess I did." Punk nodded to himself, "I just remember Jude saying to me that my actions have consequences and it's not just consequences for me, it's consequences for everyone around me." Punk said, "And I'm doing my best to avoid that."

"You did the right thing." Dean nodded.

"AJ did the right thing." Punk corrected, "The woman has more sense than the lot of us combined."

"Yeah, well that's April." Dean nodded in agreement, "At least now we now he's being dealt with and he's not gonna try anything again." He said, "I mean what the hell was he even trying to achieve?"

"I think he was trying to get Thea to go somewhere with him. Disappear from this place. She obviously didn't and he wanted to inject her with drugs, probably to make it easier to convince her." Punk nodded, "I mean I walked in and he was on top of her, trying to inject her with something."

"Fucking bastard." Dean shook his head.

"She hugged me." Punk nodded to himself, "She hugged me twice." He said, still feeling the hug around him, remembering it feeling so good.

"She needed you and you were there." Dean nodded, "That's a good step forward." He said as Punk nodded.

"I don't know if it'll change anything, though." Punk said, "I just hope this doesn't cause her to relapse. April is terrified of it."

"We'll be there for her." Dean nodded.

"She's been working real hard." Punk said, "To see all of that undo itself would be horrible." He shook his head as Dean nodded.

"She's got her family around her. We'll help her in whatever way we can." Dean assured him, "You speak to April?"

"Yeah, she said she'd call me in the morning to let me know how Thea is." Punk nodded, "I guess our indifferences have been dropped for the time being. Kids come first." Punk said, "We both know that." He nodded.

"Yeah, of course." Dean nodded, "You should get home and get some sleep." Dean advised, "It's been a long fucking night."

"You mind if I sleep here again?" Punk looked over at Dean.

"Of course I don't." Dean said, "But… you're renting that apartment." Dean laughed a little as Punk just nodded as Dean sighed, "Phil, I think you should talk to someone about it."

"No… no, I'm fine." Punk nodded to himself, "Just while I'm here I'll crash for the night. I'll be gone before you get up anyway."

"Hey, you're always welcomed here. I just don't want you to avoid anything." Dean said.

"I'm not. I'm ok." Punk assured him, "Thanks for the help tonight. Knowing everyone is this rotten town has its advantages sometimes."

"Yeah, you got that right. I heard the travellers at the docks were even out looking for her." Dean said as Punk smiled, "Always here for you, brother." Dean nodded, patting him on the back and leaving the kitchen as Punk headed into the living room to crash in the couch.

* * *

AJ had told Jude what happened with Thea and Jackson. She was old enough to know these things, and AJ could see how upset it made Jude. Jackson had been in their lives since she was a little girl, and it was disturbing to hear what he had done tonight.

"I think I'm gonna go to bed… for a few hours." AJ realised the time was ticking by, "You gonna be ok?" AJ asked Jude.

"Uh… yeah, yeah I'll be ok." Jude nodded.

"Ok." AJ nodded, "Get yourself back to bed. I love you." AJ said, leaving the kitchen tiredly and heading upstairs to catch a few hours sleep, before it was time to wake Cassie up for school.

Jude sat at the kitchen table for a little while before opening the freezer up and grabbing the ice-cream, taking two spoons from the drawer and leaving the kitchen, heading upstairs quietly and approaching Thea's door.

She opened it up quietly, just in case her sister was sleeping, but of course she wasn't. She was wide awake, sitting up in bed with the TV on.

"Hey." Jude said quietly.

"Hi." Thea looked over, watching Jude walk into the bedroom, closing the door over behind her.

Jude walked on over to the bed, sliding in beside Thea and getting under the covers as Thea watched with confusion. Last time she checked, her sister wasn't speaking to her.

"What are you doing?" Thea whispered with a small smile, budging over to let Jude in.

"We only had chocolate ice-cream in." Jude said, passing Thea a spoon, "What are we watching?" She asked as Thea looked at her.

"Don't you have school in a few hours?" Thea asked.

"I can skip one day." Jude shrugged, looking at her sister, sad to see the cuts and bruises on her face. But she wasn't going to question anything. She was just here to be her sister.

"Grease is on." Thea nodded as Jude smiled.

"I love me some Grease." Jude nodded, opening the ice-cream up and sitting it between them as Thea smiled softly. If there was one thing she needed right now, it was exactly this.


	69. Powerless

**Powerless**

* * *

"Jude, time for school." AJ said, opening up her daughter's bedroom door, pausing when she didn't see Jude in her bed. She looked on with confusion, walking on down the hall and opening up Thea's bedroom door where she saw Jude in Thea's bed, an empty tub of ice-cream lay on the bedside table whilst the TV played quietly in the corner.

She smiled to herself, figuring Thea needed Jude more than school needed her today. She closed the door over and let them be.

"Mom, do you have my soccer kit?" Cassie asked, running out of her bedroom without any pants on.

"It's downstairs, baby." AJ laughed a little, watching as the eight year old went running down the stairs.

Cassie ran into the kitchen, grabbing her kit from the kitchen when she heard a knock at the door. She ran down the hallway and opened it up, having no regard to having no pants on. Luckily, it was just her father anyway.

"Hi, dad." Cassie smiled happily as Punk chuckled.

"Hey." Punk laughed.

"I have to get ready for school." Cassie told him just as AJ came downstairs.

"Cass, you can't answer the door like that." AJ scoffed as Cassie shrugged, "Did you get your kit?"

"Yes." Cassie nodded to her.

"Ok, go put it up in your bag." AJ nodded, "And put some pants on too." AJ advised as Cassie nodded, running away upstairs as AJ shook her head at the madness, turning her attention to Punk who was standing at the door.

"Hey." Punk nodded to her.

"I don't remember you being an early riser." AJ shook her head.

"I wasn't… when I was in bed with you." Punk nodded truthfully as AJ raised her eyebrows, looking down at the ground awkwardly as Punk smiled a little, watching her cheeks go a little flushed, "How is Thea doing?"

"She's not woke up yet." AJ said, "But I did find Jude in her bed and an empty tub of ice-cream on the bedside table so…" AJ shrugged, "That's a good sign."

"At least they're talking to each other." Punk nodded.

"I knew they would eventually. Pity it's under these circumstances. I told Jude what happened last night. She was pretty shocked. Jackson's been around since she was a little girl." AJ said, "She can stay off school today, spend the day with Thea if it helps." AJ nodded.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Punk nodded, "Did Thea talk to you about anything last night after I left?"

"No, not much. She just seems confused. Asking why he would want her to do drugs again." AJ shrugged, "If we don't understand it, she definitely isn't going to understand. Understand why he did this to her."

"I honestly don't think there's a specific reason. That's the tough part. I think he's a troubled kid and… and I think he probably felt in control when he was with Thea." Punk said as AJ nodded to herself, "Maybe her breaking it off with him, for real, and him seeing her with some other guy… breaking point." Punk shrugged.

"Who knows." AJ shook her head, "You heard anything from the station?"

"No. No, I'm gonna stay away unless they call me in for a statement. Just keep out of it." Punk nodded.

"I think it's best you do." AJ agreed, "You're not a favourite down there." She said.

"Yeah, I know." Punk nodded.

"Mom, I'm ready." Cassie said, appearing behind AJ at the door as Punk smiled.

"I'm glad you have some pants on now." AJ nodded happily, "Your breakfast is in the kitchen."

"Can dad take me to school?" Cassie asked as Punk smiled to himself.

"I'm not sure, I think dad might be busy." AJ turned to Punk who shook his head.

"Absolutely not." Punk shook his head, "You go get your breakfast and I'll take you once you're finished." He said as Cassie smiled and ran off.

"If you have somewhere to be-"

"I don't." Punk shook his head, "I'll take her." He nodded.

"Well thank you." AJ nodded as Cassie came running back to the doorway with a slice of toast in her hand.

"I'm ready to go." Cassie announced as AJ smiled.

"Ok, you have a great day, baby. I'll see you soon." AJ nodded, leaning down and kissing Cassie's cheek softly.

"Ok ok." Cassie shoved her mother away, not enjoying the fuss she made over her as Punk chuckled a little, watching Cassie jump down the steps.

"Ok, let's go." Punk smiled, nodding to AJ as she smiled, watching them walk off down the street.

She closed the door over and headed on through to the kitchen, tidying up a little and making a coffee when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs, watching as Thea walked into the kitchen.

"Morning." AJ smiled, "You want some coffee?" She asked.

"Yeah, please." Thea nodded, taking a seat at the kitchen table, running her hands through her hair.

"How'd you sleep?" AJ asked, turning around as she dried her hands off from cleaning up.

"Not bad." Thea nodded, "Jude came into my room last night and we watched some movies, ate some ice-cream." Thea said as AJ smiled, "Must have just fallen asleep from exhaustion."

"I figured you would." AJ nodded.

"Shouldn't you be taking Cassie to school?" Thea asked, noticing the time.

"Actually your dad is taking her. You've just missed him." AJ said, "He was coming by to see how you were." She said as Thea nodded.

"Kinda feels like a blur." Thea said as AJ nodded, "I just can't believe he did this." She shook her head, "To me."

"There's nothing I can say to make it seem better but… I don't think he's in his right mind." AJ said.

"He's on drugs, of course he's not." Thea said, "And I never even noticed." She shook her head. It all still felt surreal. She woke up and all she could think about was the previous night, going through all the events step by step in her mind, "I just always thought of him as someone who could never hurt me." She shook her head as AJ nodded.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" AJ asked her.

"There's not much to talk about." Thea shrugged, "He dragged me into his car in the college car park. Drove me away and told me we were going to get out of here, that he'd packed us a bag. Said we were gonna stop at the motel before taking off early in the morning." Thea said as AJ nodded, "At this point, I'm still thinking that things are gonna be fine, that he's just freaking out and I'll be able to talk him around."

"Did he say why he wanted to get out of here?" AJ questioned.

"Not really." Thea shook her head, "He kept bringing up me hanging out with Dominic so I thought… he's jealous? Ok." Thea nodded, "And then he started pushing me around, grabbing me, calling me names." Thea nodded to herself, "I didn't recognise him." She said, "I was scared." She nodded.

AJ poured the coffee's and sat down at the table, sliding Thea's over to her whilst squeezing her hand in the process.

"Then he brought out cocaine, put it on the table and told me that it'd make me feel better." Thea shook her head, "And it was just… it was staring at me." She said, still seeing the image in her head.

"And you were stronger than that." AJ nodded, "You didn't give in."

"No." Thea nodded confidently, "Then I managed to distract him for a second so I could use his phone, that's when I called you. Once he caught me, he started yelling again, telling me we need to get away from everything here. Then he pulled out a needle." Thea shook her head, "And we started fighting. For real." She said, "I've never been in a fist fight with a guy." She shook her head.

"He got me down on the ground and then dad came." Thea nodded.

"You should never have gone through that." AJ shook her head, "Not with someone you cared about, someone who was supposed to care about you."

"I don't know what happened to him. He was just… he was a completely different person." Thea shook her head, "Have you heard anything from the police station?"

"No, nothing." AJ shook her head, "They'll contact us with any information."

"You sure?" Thea asked, "From what I hear, cops don't like us."

"Cops don't like your father." AJ waved her hand as Thea nodded, "I'm sorry you had to go through this." AJ shook her head as Thea nodded.

"I trusted him." Thea nodded to herself. She questioning everything in her life. Who she really trusted. Wondering who really cared about her, for real. Having someone so close to her, treat her the way Jackson had, it was something she wouldn't forget. A feeling she wouldn't forget.

"I know you did." AJ nodded, "People can lose their way. Flip out. Especially when they're using drugs." She said as Thea nodded.

"Have you ever been in a fight with a guy?" Thea asked as AJ looked at her, "It's different than fighting a girl. I don't know why." She shook her head.

"Yeah, I have." AJ nodded.

"When?" Thea asked.

"Uh… long time ago." AJ nodded, "I was pregnant with you actually." She said as Thea nodded slowly, "Your father was in prison at the time. I was working with Rio, not out of choice… I needed the money so…" AJ shrugged, "He tried to…" She struggled to say it as Thea looked at her, "Tried to rape me." She nodded.

"Oh, mom." Thea sighed.

"But I fought with him and I got away." AJ nodded positively, "And that man got what was coming to him." She said briefly as Thea nodded, "Happens all the time, Thea. Around us. People we know. People we see at work, college…" She said, "Don't let anyone make you feel powerless." She shook her head.

"I felt pretty powerless last night." Thea admitted.

"You were brave." AJ shook her head, "When someone uses our weaknesses to make us fell less than we are, and we can still fight back… that's what strength is." AJ nodded.

"I feel anything but strong right now." Thea shook her head. It was hard to feel that way when someone she loved had hurt her like this, so badly.

"I know." AJ sighed, standing up and sitting down next to Thea who began to cry, "I know." AJ nodded, wrapping her arms around her as Thea leaned into her, "You're ok." AJ soothed, doing the only thing she knew how right now. Be there for her.


	70. Roots

**Roots**

* * *

"How is your sister?" Punk asked, after getting back from dropping Cassie off at school, he stopped by AJ's house again, just to see how Thea was doing.

"She's showering I think." Jude said, letting him into the house.

"Well I brought you both sandwiches." Punk said, "I don't know if Thea still eats the same one."

"Yeah she always orders the same sandwich." Jude said, "Thanks."

"Has your mom gone to work?" Punk asked.

"No, she's in the kitchen. She's gonna work from home today." Jude nodded.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Punk nodded, "Thea been talking much?" He asked her, walking through to the kitchen where AJ was sat doing work.

"Not much." Jude shook her head whilst AJ looked up.

"Hey." AJ nodded to him.

"Hi." Punk said as Jude rolled her eyes.

"Sit down, she won't bite you." Jude pushed Punk over to the table.

"I don't know so much." Punk said as AJ smiled to herself, "You spoke to Thea?"

"Yeah, I did this morning." AJ nodded, "She's just really upset." She said as Punk nodded, "Confused too."

"I don't blame her." Jude shook her head.

"Dean called me on my way back here. They're keeping Jackson in jail for the time being, until a hearing. Apparently they found a ton of drugs in his place, ton of loaded weapons too." Punk groaned as AJ shook her head with fear.

"Terrifying." AJ shook her head as Punk nodded, "I thought, if anything, he would always protect Thea. I thought he cared about her so much. I never had to worry about those things." AJ sighed as Punk nodded.

"So did he have like… a mental breakdown or something?" Jude asked them as they turned to her.

"We don't know." Punk shrugged, "I mean he must have taken a shit of ton drugs, that wouldn't have helped." He said, "He'll do time inside, definitely." He nodded, "Which hopefully makes Thea feel a little safer."

"Yeah, hopefully." AJ nodded, "She's just confused right now." AJ said whilst Jude unpacked the sandwiches Punk had brought for them.

All the while Thea came downstairs after her shower, walking her way down the hall.

"Mom, I cut myself whilst I was shaving." Thea said, on her way to the kitchen, "Literally think I've cut my vagina open, I'm not even kidding-" Thea paused as she entered the kitchen as Punk nodded to himself.

"Morning." Punk nodded awkwardly as Thea groaned to herself.

"Sorry this is usually a… a girl only zone." Thea nodded to him.

"I can see that." Punk said as AJ chuckled discreetly to herself, "I was uh… I was just coming to check on you, see how you're doing." Punk nodded to her.

"I'm ok." Thea said as Punk nodded. He could notice a difference in her, the way she acted towards him, even just by the way she looked at him. It wasn't so hostile or argumentative.

"If there's anything I can do for you, let me know." Punk nodded to her.

"I will." Thea said, "Have you… have you heard anything? From the police? I thought they'd call me to bring me in for more questioning but they haven't."

"Yeah, Dean called me and told me they still had Jackson in there. They're keeping him in until a hearing. They found a lot more drugs in his place, loaded weapons too." Punk said as Thea shook her head, "I think it's more a safety thing that they're keeping him in."

"Your dad reckons he'll do time." AJ nodded as Thea just stayed quiet, not knowing what to say. It was still so hard to believe.

"Dad brought you your favourite sandwich." Jude announced, "Let's go and watch TV." She suggested, walking off with her sandwich as Thea nodded, taking her sandwich from the table.

"Thank you." Thea nodded to Punk who smiled, watching her leave the kitchen as Punk turned to AJ.

"I'm sorry they talk like that to each other all the time." AJ shook her head as Punk just laughed and shook his head.

"It's alright." Punk nodded, "She's a lot better than I thought."

"She's doing good for now." AJ said, "But I think she's still in shock. Once that settles, that's when the damage can be done." She said, "I just… I refuse to see her ruin all that hard work she's put in."

"We just gotta be there for her." Punk nodded, "I mean she's actually talking to me which is… it feels pretty good." He said as AJ smiled.

"Yeah, well… she needed you and you were there. Maybe that made her realise something." AJ nodded as he smiled, "So… I see the girls got breakfast sandwiches but I didn't?" AJ nodded to him as Punk laughed a little.

"I really did think you were at work." Punk said as she smiled.

"I'm just teasing." AJ said, "I was supposed to be at work but, I don't know, I just want to be here with her and make sure she's ok." AJ nodded.

"Yeah, of course." Punk nodded, "Like anything, it'll get better with time." He said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, I hope so." She said, "Do you want a coffee or something?" AJ asked politely.

"No thanks, I should probably go." Punk nodded, standing up from the kitchen, "Got a shift at twelve."

"Ok." AJ said, "Well thanks for coming by, checking on her." AJ nodded.

"I'll try come by every day, if she lets me, just to see how she's doing." Punk said.

"I think she'd secretly like that." AJ said, "I also think she probably needs to get back into a routine. After a few days I'll try convince her to go to college again, attend her meetings… see how that goes."

"Yeah, it's a good idea. Gotta keep going." Punk said as AJ nodded, "Well I'll see you around." He said as she nodded, watching him leave the kitchen.

They didn't even have to talk about it. They both knew what ever disputes they had going on, had to come to a pause for now, in order to be there for their daughter. It was as simple as that.

Punk stuck his head in the living room to say goodbye to the girls.

"I gotta get going." Punk said, "I'll see you soon." He nodded to them both.

"Bye." Jude mumbled, tucking into her sandwich whilst Thea nodded to him. If this was a few weeks ago, she would have simply ignored him. She wouldn't have acknowledged he was even there.

"Enjoy those." Punk nodded, leaving the living room and heading out of the house.

* * *

The girls had a day of sitting on the couch and watching TV whilst AJ worked in the kitchen. She was glad to see Jude and Thea back on their usual sisterly terms, and was glad Thea had someone to help her through this difficult time.

She was brought away from her work when there was a knock at the door, which she headed down the hallway to answer.

She opened up the door to the unfamiliar face.

"Can I help you?" AJ asked politely.

"Uh… I'm looking for Thea?" Dominic asked as AJ looked at him, "I'm Dominic. From the AA meetings." He explained as AJ smiled and nodded to herself. Her daughter was right. He was handsome.

"Hi Dominic." AJ smiled politely.

"You must be her mom?" Dominic hoped he was right.

"Yeah. I'm April." AJ nodded, "I'll tell her you're here." AJ said, walking off into the living room where Jude and Thea were watching the TV, "Thea, there's someone at the door for you."

"The police?" Thea asked.

"No." AJ assured, "Dominic." AJ nodded as Jude turned around.

"Who is that?" Jude smirked, nudging her sister.

"Just a friend." Thea made clear, shoving her blanket over and standing up, walking out of the living room and over to the doorway where Dominic stood waiting outside.

"Hey." Dominic smiled, happy to see her.

"Hey." Thea nodded.

"How are you?" Dominic asked as Thea shook her head with confusion. She was confused as to how he clearly knew what had happened.

"How do you know?" Thea asked with confusion.

"Uh… well your dad burst into my house last night looking for you. Thought you'd be with me." Dominic shrugged, "When I realised they couldn't find you I helped him look for you. He stopped by late last night to let me know you were safe and… what happened." Dominic said as Thea nodded slowly.

"I'm ok." Thea assured him, "But I don't think I'll be at the meeting tomorrow."

"I can let Tyler know why or-"

"No, just tell him I'm ill." Thea said as Dominic nodded.

"I'm here if you wanna talk." Dominic said.

"I don't really wanna talk to anyone." Thea shook her head. She felt like her back was up against the wall. She didn't now who she could trust anymore. If she couldn't trust someone she'd known since she was practically a child, she really wasn't sure she'd trust a new face like Dominic.

"That's ok. Whenever you're ready, I'm here for you." Dominic assured her as she just nodded.

"Ok." Thea said, "Thank you." She nodded bluntly.

"Take care of yourself." Dominic nodded, wandering off as Thea watched him, eventually closing the door over and groaning to herself.

She made her way back into the living room, not saying anything as she collapsed on the couch and grabbed her blanket.

"What was he saying?" AJ asked.

"He was just asking if I was ok." Thea shrugged as AJ nodded, "I didn't know he was out looking for me."

"Well your dad went to his house, thought you'd be there maybe, and when he found out he wanted to help." AJ said, "He's a nice boy." She said as Thea nodded, not really paying attention as she grabbed the TV remote.

"Do you guys wanna watch the Cubs game?" She asked them as both Jude and AJ turned to her in shock.

"Huh?" Jude shook her head.

"The Cubs game? It's on in like ten minutes." Thea looked at the clock, turning the channel over as AJ looked at Jude with confusion.

Any time there was a cubs or hawks game on, Thea did her best to avoid it at all costs. She couldn't even be in the same room as it, because it reminded her of her father and her relationship with him.

"We don't have to watch it." Jude said wearily.

"I want to." Thea said, turning the channel on and sinking down into the couch as Jude turned to AJ who smiled softly.


	71. Exhausted

**Exhausted**

* * *

"Mom brought pizza home!" AJ called, getting home from work as she made her way into the kitchen, sitting the pizza boxes on the table as Cassie came running in, "Hi, baby." AJ smiled, giving Cassie a kiss as the eight year was way more interested in the pizza.

"I didn't know you were getting pizza." Jude appeared, walking into the kitchen as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, thought it'd be nice." AJ shrugged.

"And you couldn't be bothered cooking?" Jude assumed.

"And that too." AJ nodded with a smile, "How was school?" She asked.

"Yeah, it was good." Jude nodded.

A few days had gone by since the incident with Jackson. AJ felt it was best that they all went about their normal routines, to avoid making things harder for Thea. She'd gone back to work whilst Jude and Cassie were at school as usual. She did worry about Thea in the house on her own. It seemed to have sunk in, to the point where Thea didn't want to talk about it. She'd hit a wall and was no longer talking about it at all, and that concerned AJ.

"Where is your sister?" AJ asked Jude.

"In her room." Jude nodded.

"You spoke to her?" AJ asked.

"Just a little when I got home." Jude said, "She was doing some college work down here but then she moved upstairs when me and Cass got in. I think she's scared I'm gonna start talking about Jackson." Jude said as AJ nodded.

"I think it's best if she gets back to college. It gets harder once you stop." AJ said, "And I don't want her to put herself in a bad situation. Isolate herself." AJ shook her head as Jude nodded.

"Isn't it freaking you out that she's watching the Cubs again?" Jude asked, "Does this mean she's gone from hating dad to… disliking him?" She questioned.

"She doesn't hate him." AJ scoffed, "I think she's just taking comfort in it right now." She nodded. She could only assume that's what it was.

"Yeah." Jude nodded, "Well me and Cassie are staying with dad tomorrow night."

"I know, I'll help Cassie pack a bag tonight." AJ said.

"I'm right here and I can pack my own bag, mom." Cassie made clear as AJ smiled to herself.

"I know you can, babe. But I'll check over it just to make sure you haven't forgot anything." AJ smiled to her, listening to footsteps coming downstairs as she watched Thea come into the kitchen.

She had sweats and a hoodie on. Her long, thick dark hair was tied up in a messy bun with half the hair hanging out of it.

"Got your favourite." AJ smiled to her as Thea looked over.

"I'm uh… I'm not that hungry." Thea shook her head, "I just came down for a drink."

"Ok." AJ nodded, "How you been feeling today-"

"I'm fine." Thea nodded quickly, taking a bottle of water from the fridge, "I've got a lot of college work to do." She said, leaving the kitchen as AJ sighed to herself.

She was acting the same way she did when Punk had gone to prison, and that scared her. It was like an emotional wall was put up, where she refused to let anyone in. Once the shock and the confusion settled in, the need to protect herself was in full effect.

"Mom, what's wrong with Thea?" Cassie asked with a frown. Although she was smaller, she still sensed things, she could still see there was something wrong with her oldest sister, and AJ could only do her best to protect her from being scared.

"She's just not feeling good, baby." AJ nodded.

"Oh." Cassie nodded, reaching for another slice of pizza, "Does she have a sore throat?" She wondered as Jude looked over at AJ.

"Yeah, she's just not feeling good." AJ said, "But she'll get better." She promised as Cassie nodded, "Why don't you two tuck into that and I will go pack your bags for you for tomorrow." She suggested.

"Mom, remember my switch." Cassie said, "And Benny my bunny." She nodded as AJ smiled.

"I will. You can check everything is in later tonight." AJ said, leaving the kitchen and heading upstairs.

She knocked on Thea's door, walking on in where she saw Thea sitting on her bed with her college books out in front of her.

"Hey." AJ said as Thea nodded to her, "Is this work you missed over the past couple days?" AJ asked her.

"Yeah. I have so much of it." Thea shook her head, "My tutor emailed me and suggested a meeting about my attendance." Thea nodded, "They're probably gonna make me redo this year again." She shook her head.

"Hey, you don't know that. You're always handing in essays on time, and you're doing the work, clearly." AJ pointed, "I was actually going to suggest about maybe returning to college on Monday? Just pick back up on your routine." AJ suggested.

"Yeah, I guess." Thea nodded, unenthusiastically.

"What about your meeting tonight?" AJ asked as Thea shrugged.

"I don't know if I'm gonna go." Thea said.

"It might be the best thing for you right now." AJ nodded, walking further into the bedroom, sitting down at the end of the bed as Thea looked at her, "To talk to people, maybe see your friend, Dominic. Get out of the house for a little bit."

"Maybe." Thea nodded.

"I can come with you if you like-"

"I don't need you to come with me." Thea rolled her eyes.

"Well I'm just putting it out there." AJ said, "Jude and Cass are staying with your dad tomorrow night. Maybe we can do something fun?"

"Yeah, ok." Thea nodded briefly whilst continuing to scribble notes down on her notepad as AJ nodded slowly.

"Ok." AJ smiled, watching Thea as she stayed focused on her books, standing up and leaving the room.

As soon as AJ was gone, Thea shoved her books to the side and got into bed where she'd been all day, only using her books for cover in case anyone came in. All she wanted to do was hide under the covers. That's all she felt like she could handle right now.

AJ walked on into her own bedroom, sitting down on the bed and running her hands through her hair. It was a tiring cycle of never catching a break. From her own problems, from her daughter's problems. She was exhausted, and she was sad, and all she could do was think of the times where it wasn't quite so hard…

* * *

"_How long until you think she's gonna wake up?" Punk asked, facing AJ in their bed one early morning._

"_What time is it just now?" AJ turned around, looking at the clock in their room which read 6am, "Well soon probably." She realised as Punk nodded._

"_She's doing good. I thought new-borns were supposed to give you hell." He said._

"_Thea gave me hell." AJ nodded, "Jude is a lot more different." She said, "She's a calm baby."_

"_She keeps peeing on me." Punk frowned, "Maybe she's like… telling me to back off?" He questioned as AJ chuckled._

"_Yeah, they do that." AJ nodded, "She's a week old today." She smiled as Punk nodded, "It's already going by so fast."_

"_Yeah, that's what happens, though. Right? I feel like I blinked and Thea turned seven." Punk shook his head._

"_God, I know." AJ sighed, turning onto her back as Punk watched her._

"_You know this is my favourite part of every morning." He stated as AJ turned her head and smiled, "Sets me up for the day." He smiled, stroking her cheek sweetly._

"_Yeah, you're not so bad to wake up to." AJ teased with a smile, scratching under his stubbly chin sweetly as he smiled, "House, kids, marriage whatever… you're still that cute boy I lived in motels with."_

"_Really? I haven't redeemed myself from that stage? Talking about the blonde hair, of course." He made clear._

"_Baby, I miss that hair and you know it." AJ hummed as Punk chuckled._

"_I thought you liked the slick look?" He questioned._

"_Believe it or not, Phil… I didn't fall in love with you for your gorgeous hair." AJ enlightened him as Punk chuckled._

"_Really? I for sure thought you did." He teased back as she smiled. Morning conversations were her favourite. Getting to wake up and hear his voice. Getting set up for the day with laughter from him. She needed that._

"_Do you think they'll be close?" AJ asked him._

"_Who?" Punk asked._

"_Thea and Jude." AJ nodded as Punk nodded._

"_For sure." Punk said, "Sisters, right?" He shrugged, "They're for sure gonna gang up on us." He predicted._

"_Like you aren't excited for that." AJ chuckled as Punk smiled, both of them suddenly picking up on the sound monitor by their bed, crying coming from it as Punk sat up._

"_She heard us." Punk scoffed as AJ smiled, watching as he wandered out of the bedroom._

_Punk made his way into Jude's nursery, walking over to her crib and lifting her up into his arms. He changed her diaper first before taking her into he and AJ's bedroom. Strictly speaking, it was his first time literally having a baby. He missed this crucial part with Thea, so he was learning new things with this. New newborn baby things. And he was loving every second of it._

"_Ok, I'll take you to mommy's boobs." Punk nodded, "Because I know that's all you're really interested in right now." He hummed, walking into he and AJ's bedroom as AJ smiled._

"_She ok?" AJ asked as Punk nodded._

"_Yeah, she's all good." Punk smiled, looking down at Jude. She was a little bundle of perfection. A dark head of hair, the softest skin and the most amazing brown eyes._

"_Hungry I assume." AJ said as Punk nodded, passing the baby girl over to AJ who was sat up on the bed._

"_Yeah, I have nothing to offer her." Punk nodded, sitting down on the bed beside AJ who began feeding Jude. It was a sight he adored._

"_You know what I could go right now?" AJ smiled, relaxed._

"_What?" Punk smiled._

"_A bagel." AJ nodded to herself, "And some coffee." She smiled as Punk nodded._

"_I'm sure I can sort something out for you." Punk nodded to her as she smiled._

_They turned their attention to their bedroom door opening, watching as seven year old Thea walked on in, holding onto her teddy bear, Harold, and walking over to their bed._

"_Morning." Punk smiled, chuckling upon Thea's bed hair which was sticking up, extremely messy around her face._

"_She woke me up." Thea looked at them both unhappily as AJ and Punk smiled a little. Thea was still to be sold on the idea of having a baby sister. She wasn't all that impressed._

"_She was hungry." AJ nodded._

"_But she's too loud." Thea shook her head, climbing up onto the bed, crawling over Punk and sitting in between them, watching AJ feeding Jude, "I don't think I like her." Thea said as Punk chuckled aloud._

"_Hey, baby… that's not very nice." AJ shook her head, "This is your baby sister. You're so important to her."_

"_She's too loud. And she stinks." Thea said, "And she takes up a lot of room."_

"_Really? She takes up a lot of room?" Punk asked with confusion._

"_Her things." Thea corrected._

"_I think you secretly like her." Punk nudged Thea who shoved him away._

"_No." Thea said as AJ smiled a little, covering herself up as Jude seemed to be taking a break from feeding, looking down and noticing she was smiling._

"_Oh my God." AJ smiled, "She's smiling." She said._

_Both Punk and Thea leaned over to look, spotting Jude giving a slight smile with her little eyes closed._

"_Oh my God." Punk chuckled whilst Thea looked on._

"_Maybe she's cute." Thea realised as AJ smiled, watching Thea play with Jude's hair and smile._

_AJ turned to Punk with a smile as he leaned forward, pressing a kiss on her lips. She was so content, so happy with her family, with her favourite people._


	72. Meeting

**Meeting**

* * *

"Hey, mom." Thea stuck her head into the living room where AJ was laying up watching TV.

"What's up?" AJ asked tiredly, having been falling asleep on the couch.

"I'm gonna go to my meeting." Thea said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah?" AJ sat up a little as Thea nodded, "Ok." AJ smiled.

"You don't need to wait up for me." Thea shook her head.

"I'll probably fall asleep here anyway." AJ said, "I think it's good that you're going." AJ nodded as Thea forced a smile, "I can drop you off if you like? And come back for you?"

"No, I can drive." Thea assured her, "I'll see you later." She said as AJ nodded.

Thea left the house and got into her car, driving off into the night, with no intentions to go to her usual AA meeting.

She arrived at the docks, getting out of her car and closing the door over. She was still in her sweats and hoodie, not having touched her hair either from the messy bun it was in. She was simply dressing how she felt.

She climbed down ladder onto the deck, looking at all the boats lined up near the dock. It was pretty quiet, no one was around.

She walked beside the water, enjoying how calm it sounded, how peaceful it seemed. She carried on walking down the deck, looking at all the boats tied up as she eventually reached the end of the wooden deck, looking out onto the water.

"Thank God that's over." Dean groaned, coming out of the small locker room they had, Punk following behind putting his jacket on.

"Yeah, that was tough." Punk groaned. Their job consisted of a lot of heavy lifting and transporting, maintaining the docks and keeping them a safe and secure place, "I have so many damn knots in my back."

"Old age." Dean chuckled.

"Nah, I got these before I went to prison." Punk assured him, "But… April would get them out." He rolled his eyes as Dean nodded.

"How are things between you two?" Dean asked him.

"Everything has sort of just came to a pause." Punk nodded, "She just wants to concentrate on Thea, which… obviously I think is the most important thing right now." He said.

"So she's not said anything about the divorce again?" Dean asked.

"No." Punk shook his head, "I just wish there was something I could do to really win her over." He said, "To really show her that she doesn't have to be scared of this." He sighed.

"Maybe there is." Dean shrugged.

"Like what?" Punk asked.

"Well what was going on before you both slept together?" Dean asked.

"We were yelling at one another." Punk nodded as Dean groaned.

"Of course you were." Dean shook his head as Punk nodded, "Go start another fight with her." He teased as Punk shook his head.

"You're not funny." Punk scoffed as Dean chuckled, looking over at the long, narrow boardwalk where he noticed someone climbing onto one of the boats.

"Uh… did someone come out here?" Dean pointed as Punk looked over. It was hard to see with how dark it was.

"No, I don't remember seeing anyone." Punk shook his head.

"Rich people and their boats." Dean shook his head, looking over and watching as Thea turned around, "Uh…"

"Is that Thea?" Punk screwed his eyes up.

"I think so." Dean said with confusion, "The hell is she doing?"

Punk immediately ran down the boardwalk, all the way to the very end, "Thea!" Punk called, "What the hell are you doing?" He shook his head with his hands out as Thea climbed onto the top of the boat, pulling herself around using the poles above, "You're gonna hurt yourself."

"I've never been inside one of these." Thea explained, jumping down into the boat.

"Thea, that's a million dollar boat. Please come out." Punk said, anxious as he watched her look around.

"Million dollars?" Thea whistled, "Imagine having that kind of money and spending it on a shitty boat." She chuckled, "Rich people." She shook her head as Punk watched her.

Punk turned around to Dean and gave him a nod to allow him to head off. He believed he had this under control… maybe.

"Ok, can you come out of the boat? You're not supposed to be in these." Punk said. He was confused as to why she was even out here in the first place.

"It is sort of neat." Thea nodded, walking around the boat, "It'd be nice in Summer, right?" She looked over to him.

"I guess." Punk nodded, more concentrated on her. He didn't want to admit it, but he was studying her closely to figure out if she was actually drunk or high. He couldn't quite tell.

"Waste of money in the winter, though." Thea scoffed, climbing back up on top of the boat as Punk groaned, "Why are you so nervous? I'm not a baby deer." She scoffed, walking on top of the boat, climbing back down onto the boardwalk and dusting her hands off one another.

"What are you doing out here?" Punk asked her seriously, "At this time?"

"I like the water." Thea shrugged as Punk looked across at her, "And… I came to find you." She said truthfully as he nodded.

"You ok?" Punk asked her. Now that he was standing closer to her, he was thankful to notice she wasn't drunk at all, nor high, which was such a relief.

"Define ok." Thea shrugged as Punk nodded.

"You need help from me?" Punk asked her as she chuckled a little.

"I don't know what I need." Thea said, turning around and sitting down on the end of the boardwalk, looking down at the water as Punk looked over at her.

"Don't you usually have meetings on Thursday nights?" Punk asked, walking over and sitting down beside her on the boardwalk.

"I do." Thea nodded, "I'm not really feeling up to talking to all my fellow alcoholics tonight." She looked at him as he nodded.

"Fair enough." Punk said.

"You heard from him?" Thea asked, "I know you and Dean are probably keeping closer tabs on him than I am." She said as Punk nodded.

"They're keeping him in until his hearing. That's all I really know." Punk said.

"How long do you think he'll go to prison?" Thea asked him.

"I… I really don't know." Punk nodded.

"You're the prison expert." Thea raised a brow as he smiled a little.

"Yeah, I tried concentrating on me and my sentences." Punk said as Thea nodded.

"You and your sentences." Thea nodded, "There seems to be a reoccurring theme with the guys in my life." She said, "I mean how difficult is it to… not end up in prison?" She asked him as he nodded.

"Sometimes you end up in a place you don't intend to be." Punk nodded, "What I was doing wasn't out of choice." He reminded her, "Jackson… he needs help. And he'll get it in prison. They have a lot of programs." He said.

"I just want to know why." Thea shrugged, "After all this time. After being my friend." Thea said, "Why do that to me?" She asked him.

"Like I said… I think Jackson needs a little bit of help." Punk nodded as Thea sighed.

"I broke up with him." Thea said, "Was this my fault-"

"No." Punk said immediately, "People go through break-ups. It happens. You deal with it. You don't turn to kidnapping and violence." Punk shook his head as Thea nodded slowly.

"Is it a guy thing?" Thea asked him.

"Is what a guy thing?" Punk asked.

"Being a prick." Thea looked at him as he laughed a little.

"Anyone can be a prick, Thea." Punk nodded to her, "It's not a guy thing." He said.

"Do you think he'll have a hard time in prison?" Thea asked him.

"No, he should be ok." Punk nodded, "He's not gonna have fun, of course." He said.

"I used to come down here when you were gone. First time I ever got stoned was right here." She nodded to him.

"Well thanks for telling me." Punk nodded, "Really? Right here?" He pointed to where they were sitting, with their legs dangling off the edge of the boardwalk over the water.

"Right here." Thea nodded, "Uncle Dean found me and started yelling at me." He said, "What would your dad think right now?" Thea mimicked Dean's voice, "And you know what I said?" She asked.

"What?" Punk asked.

"Fuck my dad." Thea said as Punk nodded to himself, "Because after you left, I stopped expecting anything from anyone." She shrugged, "Because you were this person in my life that I thought would always be there." She nodded to herself, "And then you weren't." She shrugged, "And that made me hate you. It was never anything to do with what you did. I couldn't care less what you did." She admitted.

"I got no excuses." Punk nodded, "I should have been here." He said, "I spent every day in prison thinking about you and your sisters. Your mom. Thinking about every single thing I was missing. The big stuff. The small stuff." He said.

"First Christmas we had without you, by the end of the night mom was just crying on the sofa." Thea nodded, "Cassie and Jude didn't have to see that. I did." She looked at him.

"I spent a lot of Christmas' crying too." Punk nodded as she looked at him, "I can't change what happened. I can't change what we all went through. But I can try my hardest to make a change now." He said.

"I'm twenty-one years old." Thea stared at him, "What the hell do I need from you now?" She asked him.

"I don't know. Why don't you tell me why you came here tonight?" Punk asked her as Thea scoffed.

"I don't know why I came here." Thea shook her head as Punk nodded.

"That's ok. I don't mind if you don't know why you wanna see me. I'll take it." Punk nodded.

"You must be so proud." Thea shook her head, looking out at the water as Punk looked at her, "I'm just a mess." She said.

"I am proud, actually." Punk assured her as she looked at him, "I'm proud of everything you've done, everything you've overcome and achieved." He said, "When I was your age, I'd made a lot more mistakes than you have."

"I bet number one was me, right?" Thea nodded as Punk scoffed.

"Don't be ridiculous." Punk shook his head as Thea chuckled to herself as he smiled, "Number two." He teased as Thea gasped, not being able to help laugh as Punk smiled.

Laughing with him again brought back so many fond memories for her. Memories she'd tried to forget in order to move on, memories she never wanted to forget.

"I feel like I'm having a midlife crisis." Thea groaned.

"Really?" Punk laughed, "Midlife? I'm in midlife. You're still a baby." He assured her.

"Cocaine ages you." Thea nodded,

"I bet." Punk nodded, "But you got control of your life now. You can do, be whatever you wanna be. That's something you don't need a boyfriend for, something you might not even need a dad for." He said as she looked at him, "But… I'm never going away-"

"You promised me that when I was little. You can see why I don't trust you when you say that, right?" Thea asked.

"I see why." Punk understood, "But… I'm still gonna say it, because I know, deep down, I'm never going away." Punk nodded, "And if you need me for anything, even if it's just a chat out here once a week… I'll drop everything and I'll be there." He made clear as she looked at him and nodded.

"I know." She said quietly as he nodded, "I should probably get home." She nodded, standing up as Punk got up to his feet too.

"You drive here?" Punk asked her.

"Yeah." Thea said as Punk nodded, "Is it normal to feel like I can't trust anyone right now?"

"After what that boy did to you… I'd say so." Punk nodded, "And that's ok. It'll take some time to get over that. But you will get over it." He assured her. For some reason, she still believed every word he had to say. His honesty was never something she really doubted.

"I hear Jude and Cass are staying with you tomorrow night." Thea said, folding her arms as they walked back down the boardwalk.

"Yeah, they are." Punk nodded, "I rented a movie and we'll probably get pizza or something." He said as Thea nodded, "You're always welcome."

"I'll pass." Thea nodded. She wasn't sure where she stood with him. Torn between protecting herself and missing him, even when he was right in front of her. It was a difficult spot to be in. A confusing spot.

"Well the offer is always there." Punk said as Thea nodded with a small smile.

"I think I'm gonna hang out with mom tomorrow." Thea said as Punk nodded, "If there's one thing I gained out of you leaving… being raised by an amazingly strong woman." She nodded as Punk smiled.

"Yeah… she's special." Punk agreed as Thea nodded.

* * *

Thea got home later on that night after going her separate ways with her father. She walked into the house and saw her mother awake, laying up on the couch watching TV.

"Hey, how was the meeting?" AJ smiled sleepily as Thea nodded.

"It was ok." Thea nodded briefly, "Really? More UFO documentary's?" Thea looked over at the TV.

"You know they comfort me." AJ smiled as Thea nodded, "There's some leftover pizza in the kitchen if you're feeling hungry." AJ nodded.

"Yeah, I might grab a few slices." Thea said, playing with her car keys, "So I think I'm definitely going to go back to college on Monday." She nodded.

"Yeah?" AJ smiled as Thea nodded.

"Yeah, it'll keep me distracted I guess." Thea shrugged as AJ nodded, "Since Jude and Cass are out tomorrow night, I thought we could go to the movies or something?" She suggested as AJ nodded with smile.

"Yeah, I'd love that." AJ smiled. She could only assume that her AA meeting had lifted her spirit, and she was so thankful for that, and so glad she had gone.

"Ok." Thea nodded.

"But no horror movies please." AJ begged as Thea laughed a little.

"Oh, ok. You can decide what movie and I'll decide where we eat." Thea said.

"It's a date." AJ nodded as Thea smiled.

"Ok, I'm gonna go get some pizza." Thea said as AJ nodded, smiling to herself with ease as Thea left the room.


	73. Simple Life

**Simple Life**

* * *

"_Phil." AJ called, walking into their small apartment late on one night. She'd just got done with a late shift at the coffee shop. She'd had college early in the morning and had barely sat down all day._

_She made her way through the apartment, walking down town to the living room where Punk was sitting on the couch watching TV with three year old Thea lying beside him, fast asleep. She smiled tiredly._

"_Hey." Punk smiled._

"_What's all the nose downstairs?" AJ shook her head, walking over to him, leaning over and kissing him hello, looking down at Thea and smiling._

"_Don't get me started." Punk groaned, "They've been loud like that since 6pm. I went downstairs and spoke to Bill. I asked them to keep it down for Thea but clearly I wasn't convincing enough." He shook his head._

_The tended to have issues with their apartment neighbours. Due to the part of town they lived in, it was a lot of rough people they were surrounded by. Scary people. Thea was the only child in the building to put it into perspective. Their downstairs neighbours were extremely noisy._

"_The good thing is, she doesn't look affected by it." AJ nodded to herself, leaning down and kissing Thea's head softly, "When I walked into the building there were a ton of guys standing around. I won't tell you what I heard them say as I walked by them." She said as Punk shook his head._

"_Best you don't tell me." Punk agreed, "How was work?" He asked her._

"_It was ok." AJ nodded tiredly, sitting down on his lap as he smiled, "But I haven't had a seat all day. I'm gonna crash as soon as my head hits the pillow." She groaned, leaning her head on his shoulder as he smiled._

"_Why don't you get an early night?" Punk asked her as she nodded._

_They were both exhausted for the most part. Picking up as many shifts as they could in order to save for a house was extremely tiring, especially when they were taking care of their daughter on top of that. _

"_I feel like I haven't saw you in so long." AJ sighed, cupping his cheek as Punk smiled._

"_You saw me this morning." Punk chuckled a little._

"_I mean… properly saw you." AJ said as Punk nodded, understanding what he meant of course._

"_I know." Punk nodded, "Any time you miss me just think of the noise downstairs and how one day… maybe we'll get away from that." He said as AJ nodded._

"_Hopefully." AJ sighed, listening to the noise downstairs and groaning._

"_I'm gonna have to go speak to them again." Punk shook his head._

"_Maybe it's best you don't." AJ said, "There was a lot of them down there." She shook her head._

"_They're only gonna get louder." Punk said._

_They dealt with things like this all the time. It became exhausting, especially when they were trying to protect it all from Thea._

"_How did she managed to fall asleep?" AJ asked, jealous as she watched little Thea sleeping peacefully._

"_I have no idea. We were watching a program after her bath and I turned around… she was lights out." Punk smiled, looking over at Thea, "She had fun at playgroup, there's a finger-painting on the fridge."_

"_Oh, wow." AJ smiled, "I'll have to take a look and get my review ready for her." She nodded as Punk smiled. _

"_Damn right." Punk nodded as she smiled, kissing him sweetly, enjoying a long, slow kiss with him. She needed it after the long day she'd had. His lips were the perfect thing to come home to._

_They broke apart from the kiss after a while when they heard smashing from downstairs, watching as Thea woke up, opening her eyes and looked at them both._

"_Hi, mama." Thea said sleepily, noticing her mother was home as she lay on the couch sleepily in her pyjamas._

"_Hi, baby." AJ smiled, "You sleepy?" She asked as Thea nodded, rubbing her eyes._

_Punk listened as the music seemed to get louder downstairs, banging heard with lots of loud shouting._

"_I gotta go say something." Punk said, "You get her into bed." He nodded._

"_Ok, be calm." AJ advised, standing up off his lap as he stood up and left the apartment, "Come on, monkey. Let's get you into bed." AJ smiled, picking up Thea from the couch as she wrapped her arms and legs around her._

"_Mommy, I did a painting today." Thea told her._

"_I heard." AJ said, "You want me to go take a look?" She asked as Thea nodded._

_AJ walked into the kitchen with her, standing over by the fridge as she saw the new added finger-painting._

"_It's a tree but I did it with my fingers." Thea told her, "Do you like it?" She asked._

"_That's the best painting of a tree I've ever saw." AJ nodded to herself, "I love the colours. I've… I've never seen a blue and pink tree before." She said._

"_I have." Thea said._

"_You have?" AJ smiled as Thea nodded, leaning her head on AJ's shoulder, "Where'd you see it?" She asked, walking out of the kitchen and across to the bedroom, which all three of them shared._

"_I can't tell you." Thea said calmly._

"_Oh, ok." AJ nodded with a smile, "You go brush your teeth." AJ said, putting Thea down on the ground as she ran into the bathroom, pulling her stool out from under the sink and jumping up onto it so she could reach the sink better._

_AJ smiled tiredly as she tidied the room. It was a big enough room, but having all of their things in it made it look so tiny and squashed. Thea's small bed was in the corner with her dressers and toys beside, whilst Punk and AJ's bed was in the far away corner. There was barely any room to move or walk around, but it was what they had to deal with for now. Coming from where they came from, it was great just to have a roof over their heads._

_Thea finished brushing her teeth, always spending a lot of time doing it, tidying up after herself which AJ loved. She was always very neat and organised. Most times she yelled at Punk for being messy, instead of AJ yelling at him._

"_All good?" AJ smiled as Thea nodded, "Ok, go get the drapes." She said as Thea nodded, running over and climbing on her parents bed, jumping down and pulling the drapes over like she always done every night before she got into bed._

"_Mommy I don't know if I can sleep with all this noise." Thea said with a hint of anger, jumping back over her parents bed and walking over to her own._

"_I know, it's pretty loud, huh?" AJ nodded, helping her into her bed._

"_It's very loud." Thea agreed as AJ nodded._

"_Daddy's gone to try quieten them down." AJ said as Thea lay down in her bed, suddenly gasping._

"_Mommy I need Harold." Thea sat straight back up, "I think he's in the kitchen."_

"_I'll get him." AJ nodded, leaving the room and fetching Harold, Thea's beloved bear, from the kitchen table._

_She headed back into the bedroom with Harold, walking over to Thea's bed and passing her the bear._

"_Thanks." Thea said, snuggling back down into her bed as AJ smiled, crouching down beside._

"_You want me to read you a story?" AJ asked, brushing her fingers over Thea's forehead sweetly._

"_No thank you." Thea said as AJ smiled and nodded._

"_You reckon you can sleep with all that noise?" AJ asked her._

"_I can try." Thea nodded. It helped that she was such a good kid. There were times it got her down when they couldn't afford to give her better things just now. Simple things like her own room. But they were working on it. Working hard._

"_Good girl." AJ smiled, watching Thea closing her eyes, trying hard to fall asleep. It didn't take long for her to really falling into a deep sleep. AJ stood up and tucked the covers over her, kissing her head and leaving the bedroom, closing the door over a little just in time to see Punk coming back into the apartment._

"_I spoke to Bill again. He apologised, said that he didn't intend for so many people to be there." Punk shook his head, walking through to the kitchen as AJ followed._

"_I mean, it's almost every night now. It's beyond a joke." AJ shook her head, taking a bottle of water out the fridge, "He's lucky Thea is a heavy sleeper."_

"_Is she in bed?" Punk asked as AJ nodded._

"_Yeah, she's in bed." AJ nodded, "She looked really tired. She looked how I feel." She said as Punk smiled, "But there's no way I'm getting an early night with that kind of noise." She shook her head._

"_Yeah, it's pretty bad." Punk said._

"_What's your day off this week?" AJ asked him._

"_Sunday." Punk yawned._

"_Me too." AJ smiled. It was rare for them to get a day off together. It was like passing ships in the night at this time._

"_I told you this last night in bed." Punk laughed a little, "To be fair, you were like half asleep." He said, "I thought we could go to the bank and put more into the account."_

"_Oh, yeah. I kinda remember talking about that." AJ remembered, "Yeah, that's a good idea."_

"_And then we can get a cheap pizza special from Luca's across the road." Punk suggested as AJ laughed a little._

"_You're so romantic." AJ nodded, walking towards him as he shrugged._

"_I try." Punk smiled. _

_She knew for fact he was romantic, because he was still able to make her feel special and spoiled, even without the use of money. That was true romance, in her opinion._

"_Sounds like my kind of night." AJ nodded, wrapping her arms around his neck as he smiled._

"_I might even see if Luca will throw some wings in on the house." Punk said as AJ gasped._

"_Boy, do you know what a girl wants." AJ smiled as he chuckled._

"_Don't worry, I know what you want." Punk assured her as she smirked, "You know for being so tired, you're giving me those eyes."_

"_What eyes?" AJ asked him, staring up at him._

"_Those eyes." He whispered, tilting her chin up as she smiled. She leaned up and pressed a kiss on his lips as his hands placed themselves on her waist before picking her up and sitting her on the kitchen table as she chuckled against his mouth, pulling him into her with her legs whilst he smiled against the kiss and laced his fingers through her hair._


	74. Separate

**Separate**

* * *

"I want a racoon for Christmas." Cassie said, sitting in her father's kitchen having dinner the next night. Her and Jude were staying over. Or having a sleepover as Cassie kept saying.

"A racoon?" Punk chuckled, "Why a racoon?" He questioned.

"Because they're so cute." Cassie smiled.

"You think your mom would let you have a racoon in the house?" Punk asked.

"No, that's why I'm asking you." Cassie grinned as Punk laughed.

"Oh, ok. I see what you're doing." Punk nodded whilst Jude sat beside, shaking her head but with a smile, "What would you name it?" He asked.

"Meeko." Cassie nodded, having thought about this, " I can't eat anymore." She realised, pushing her plate away and rubbing her tummy.

"Yeah, I'm pretty full." Jude agreed as Punk nodded.

"Ok, you guys go in and watch TV. I'll get these dishes." Punk stood up from the table.

"I'll help." Jude shrugged as Cassie looked over and scoffed to herself.

"I'm not helping." Cassie said honestly, leaving the kitchen as Punk laughed a little and nodded.

"She never helps with anything." Jude shook her head, helping Punk take the plates over to the sink.

"She's just a kid." Punk shrugged, beginning to wash the dishes whilst Jude grabbed a towel to dry, "So… how has school been?" He asked her.

It was challenging having three daughters who were at such different parts of their lives. Cassie still being a little kid, Jude being a teen in high school and Thea practically an adult going through college. It certainly made things interesting.

"School is fine." Jude shrugged as Punk nodded.

"You done any more art projects?" Punk asked her.

"Yeah, I've done a few. Nothing worth showing, though." She shook her head modestly.

"Hey, you know I always wanna see what you're up to." Punk nodded. He knew it was important to be a source of encouragement for the girls, in any way he could, especially after all the times he'd missed. And he was filled with joy whenever he could share his children's success, in whatever small or big form it was. That kept him smiling.

"Well I actually brought my pad with me." Jude said, walking over to her backpack and pulling it out, secretly excited to show him. She walked over to him as he dried his hands, showing him the few drawings she'd done over the past few weeks.

"These are incredible." Punk took the pad from her, "You didn't like… trace these or anything?" He asked as Jude shook her head.

"No." Jude laughed a little.

"These are insane, Jude." Punk nodded. She had a talent, it was very clear. Portraits, paintings, sketches. She did it all and made it look extremely good, "I reckon you could make some good money from these." He said as Jude laughed a little.

"What do I need money for?" Jude questioned, taking the pad from him and sitting it over on the kitchen table, "I've entered a few competitions before but I've never won anything." She said, disheartened.

"That doesn't mean you give up. If it's what you love, keep doing it." He nodded.

"I will." Jude nodded as Punk nudged her playfully as she nudged him back. Even though her mother's support had been nothing short of amazing, it was still a great feeling to have her father's support too, and to hear his words of wisdom. He would never be the guy who was in prison for eight years. He was always just simply, dad.

"Can you two hurry up." Cassie walked into the kitchen, "I wnana watch my movie." She put her hands on her hips as Punk smiled. She was so like AJ, looks and attitude.

"Well maybe if you helped us, missy, we'd be finished these quicker." Punk said.

"Dad, I don't do house chores." Cassie made clear as Punk smiled and nodded.

"Go fix the couch up then and stick the DVD in." Punk said, "We're just finishing these up." He said as Cassie ran away.

Having the girls staying with him was such an amazing feeling. Getting to see them for the night and into the morning was a blessing. Something he'd only dreamed about in prison. Of course things were a little different than what he expected, but any time spent with his daughter's was the best time. It cleared foggy head, took his mind off of his own deep thoughts, and brought him into the present.

* * *

"That movie sucked." Thea said, getting out of the movies with AJ later that night, "See, this is what happens when you don't like horror movies."

"I thought it was a nice movie." AJ said.

"It was cliché." Thea shook her head as AJ shrugged.

They had gone to the movies late on after AJ got home from work. AJ was glad to see Thea in higher spirits. She knew this wasn't something she'd get over in a few days, of course, but seeing her out of her room, talking more, it put AJ's mind at ease. And any time she got to spend a night with any of her daughter's was a good night.

Where do you wanna eat?" AJ asked her, walking out into the dark street.

"I could eat a burger." Thea nodded.

"Yeah, me too." AJ agreed.

They headed across the road to a burger joint, finding a table and sitting down. Thea agreed to go order the food at the counter and headed on up with a menu.

It felt good to get out of the house and do something. To put on some clothes and do her hair properly after many days of sweats and messy buns. It was still mentally challenging to deal with what had just happened, but she was doing her best to do exactly that, deal with it. Without falling off the edge.

She waited in the line at the counter, pausing her frame when she saw Dominic turn around from putting in his order, watching him notice her as she politely smiled.

"Hey." Dominic walked over to her whilst she waited in the line, "How are you?" He asked.

"I'm ok." Thea nodded, "You?"

"Yeah, I'm ok too." Dominic nodded, "I missed you at the meeting last night."

"Yeah, I… I was busy." Thea said, "I'll be there next week, though."

"Hey, I totally understand." Dominic nodded as Thea looked at him.

"I uh… I found out that you were helping my dad look for me that night." Thea said, "I just wanted to say thank you. I mean you… you barely know me, so that was nice of you to do that." She said sincerely as Dominic nodded.

"I was just worried." Dominic said as Thea nodded, "And your dad is pretty cool, actually."

"You spoke to him?" Thea asked.

"Yeah, a little. He came by later that night to let me know that you were safe. He talked to me for a bit. He's not what I expected from what you say about him." Dominic said as Thea nodded to herself.

"I didn't paint a very good picture, did I?" Thea asked.

"Not really." Dominic smiled a little, "He really cares about you. I could see it."

"Yeah, I know." Thea nodded.

"You picking up some food?" Dominic asked her.

"No, I'm here with my mom." Thea said as Dominic nodded.

"Well I better go. My brother sent me out to get dinner." He held up the take-away bag.

"Enjoy." Thea nodded.

"I'll see you next week?" Dominic said in a questioning tone.

"Yeah." Thea nodded as he smiled, leaving the restaurant.

Thea put in their order before returning back to the table where AJ was sipping on her water and looking up at her with raised eyebrows.

"What?" Thea shook her head, sitting back down at the table.

"I see you were talking to Dominic." AJ said.

"Yeah? And?" Thea questioned, taking her jacket off and hanging it on her chair.

"I just think he's a nice guy, that's all." AJ shrugged, "Nice to look at too."

"Can you behave yourself?" Thea asked as AJ shrugged, "You don't know anything about him. He could murder people on the down low." She said as AJ rolled her eyes.

"Why do you think people are murderers when you first meet them?" AJ questioned.

"It's fun." Thea shrugged.

"I'm just teasing." AJ assured her, "But I do think he seems nice and you said yourself that you were getting along with him. It's good you can talk to someone at the meetings. I bet it makes you feel less alone." She assumed.

"Yeah, it does actually." Thea agreed as AJ nodded, "He is nice to look at." She also agreed, "But… I don't know. I feel like I'm not gonna trust anyone again. I thought I trusted Jackson. I did since I was a kid. Thirteen." She shook her head, "And look what happened."

"I think that's just different circumstances." AJ said, "Jackson obviously needed help-"

"And why did I not notice?" Thea questioned.

"Well you'd been broken up for a little while. And you'd been wrapped up in your problems." AJ said, "It's not your fault. I never want you to think that." She pointed as Thea nodded.

"I just… you think you know someone. You think you know everything they are and what they'd never do." Thea said, "And then they go and do that." She shook her head.

"It must be horrible." AJ sympathised, "But I'm glad you're talking about it now. And you're letting people in. I was worried about you those first few days."

"I think I just needed some space." Thea nodded, "To let it all digest."

"Yeah, I know." AJ said.

"What do you think Cassie and Jude are doing with dad?" Thea asked.

"I think he said that he was just renting a movie." AJ said as Thea nodded.

"When is the court hearing for the divorce?" Thea asked her.

"In two weeks." AJ nodded.

"And that's still what you want?" Thea asked.

"Yeah, I think so." AJ said, "I just… I don't see us ever being a couple again. I don't see us living in the same house again." AJ shrugged.

"Isn't that just because you've not been a couple for so long. You're barely letting him try." Thea said.

"You've changed your tune." AJ said. It was strange hearing Thea encouraging her to be open minded about Punk. Normally she shut that down right away.

"No, I just… I just think you need to be really sure of this." Thea shrugged as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, I know." AJ sighed, "It's just been such a long time that we've been apart. I just think it's done too much damage." She nodded.

"Do you miss him?" Thea asked her as AJ nodded.

"Of course I miss him." AJ nodded, "I miss him like he's still in prison." She shook her head, "Which is weird because he's out now but… I don't know, it's hard to explain." She said as Thea nodded.

"You think we're just scared?" Thea asked honestly, "I mean we know what it feels like to see him go away. You think we're just scared that if we let him in… it might happen again?"

"Maybe." AJ nodded, "Something you been thinking about?" AJ asked her curiously. Normally she couldn't get two words out of her about Punk, but she didn't seem as angered by the idea.

"A little." Thea nodded, "I definitely think I'm gonna go to college on Monday." She said, changing the subject whilst she could. Truth was, she'd been thinking about her dad, and the conversation she had with him at the docks last night. It felt so good to talk to him yet she felt guilty for doing it, like she was betraying her own stubbornness.

"Good. I'm glad to hear that." AJ smiled as Thea nodded. Any night she got to spend with her mom was a good night, because within her mom, she had a best friend, and that would never change.


	75. Decided

**Decided**

* * *

"Hi." AJ nodded, watching Punk open the door to his apartment as she waited outside.

"Hey." Punk shook his head, not expecting her, "You good?" He asked, letting her in as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, I'm ok." AJ said, "Can I go in?" She pointed.

"Yeah, on you go." Punk nodded, closing the door behind her as she wandered through the apartment.

"This place is looking really good." AJ smiled. It felt homely for sure.

"You wanna look at the girl's room?" He asked as she nodded, following him over to the door as she opened it up and walked inside. He managed to split the room, giving one half to Jude and one half to Cassie, decorating it with their favourite things on either side. It looked really cool.

"Wow." AJ smiled, looking around, "Wait… did Jude paint this?" AJ raised her eyebrows as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, she did." Punk nodded as AJ moved closer to the walls. The paintings were incredible on Jude's side of the wall, "She just finished last week." He nodded, "I gave her a key so she could come and go as she pleased to finish it. I came home one night and it was… it was all finished." He smiled as AJ looked around in awe.

"How'd someone so talented come from the both of us?" AJ whispered as Punk laughed a little, "She's so talented." AJ shook her head as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, she's got a gift alright." Punk nodded, "Have you saw her drawings in her huge sketch book?" He asked.

"No." AJ turned to him, "No, she never lets me see them. Tells me they're no good." She said, "She showed you?"

"Yeah, last week." Punk nodded, "They're incredible." She said as AJ nodded, not doubting it of course.

"I like Cassie's bed covers." AJ noticed as Punk nodded.

"I thought you would." Punk said, looking over at the Disney bed covers which Cassie picked out herself.

In a way, it was extremely sad to see. It was never supposed to turn out this way. They weren't supposed to be the couple that ended up sharing custody of their kids. It was just so unrealistic, but yet, it was very much their reality right now.

"It's great." AJ nodded, leaving the room as Punk closed the door over, following her into the living room.

"So why are you here?" Punk asked her.

"Well… the court hearing is next week." AJ said as Punk looked across at her. For some reason, he had his heart set on her changing her mind. Only because he could see deep down, she wasn't sure of this. He'd never tell anyone how to feel or what to do, but he knew his wife, he'd grew up with her, he knew her better than anybody on the planet.

"So you still want a divorce?" Punk nodded to himself.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "I've thought about. Thea told me that I shouldn't go through with it if I'm not definitely sure. But I am." AJ said, "And I think we could both benefit from it. We can both move on." She said, "It's been a rough couple of months since you've gotten out. With the kids particularly. Things are settling down. Cassie and Jude love coming here to stay." AJ smiled, "And Thea's doing good. She's been at college all week and she's going to her meetings." She said, "I don't know, I think we're all… trying to just move on."

"What are we moving on from exactly?" Punk asked.

"From us." AJ nodded softly as he looked at her.

"There's an us?" Punk asked.

"There's a marriage." AJ nodded, "That we don't have anymore." She said, "We can finally just… just move on from all of this. Put it behind us." She nodded.

"Is that what you really want?" Punk asked her.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "It is." She said, "The hearing is next Friday. If you don't show up this time, the judge will take that as your agreement to whichever settlement they reach."

"So either way, I don't have to go?" Punk asked as AJ looked at him.

"I would like it if you came." AJ said, "Please."

"Well excuse me if I'm not rushing to get there. It's not really something I wanna do-"

"And you think I want to do it?" AJ asked him.

"Getting a divorce won't shake off what happened in the past eight years. You know that, right?" Punk said.

"Yes, Phil. I know that." AJ said, "But we are very much living separate lives now. Our children know that. We know that." She said, "It's time we settle it and try move on." She nodded as Punk looked across at her.

"I promised you I wouldn't let anything happen to us." Punk said, "You asked me to promise." He said as she looked at him, "Even if the world is falling apart. That's what you said." Punk said as AJ nodded, remembering.

"I was seventeen." AJ shrugged, "That was very much a different girl back then compared to who I am now-"

"You're the same April that I've always know." Punk shrugged as AJ nodded to herself.

"You see what you wanna see in people." AJ nodded as he looked across at her.

"April, I'm not saying that we gotta get back together and start living with each other again and… pretend like nothing happened." Punk said, "We can take it a step at a time. You can set the pace." He said, "It doesn't have to end." He shook his head desperately.

"It ended for me when you went to prison." AJ nodded, "And I know that hanging onto me was probably a comforting thing in prison. I would have done the same. But deep down you know that we weren't gonna recover from this." She shook her head, "Nothing could change how much I love you. And nothing can take away the good times we had. The amazing times." She said, "And the three amazing kids we have." She shook her head, "No divorce or separation is taking that from me." She made clear as he looked across at her.

"How come it feels like it?" He asked her as she shook her head.

"You just can't look at it that way." AJ shook her head, "I know you don't want this. But I feel like it's for the best. Maybe we can really start healing from all of this." She nodded.

"If that's what you think." Punk nodded. He could only do so much. He couldn't beg her to rethink her decision. He couldn't change how she felt, or how she was convincing herself she felt.

"Please be there." AJ nodded to him, "I want it to be something we can agree on, otherwise I feel like I'm the bad guy." She said.

"Well you want what you want." Punk shrugged as AJ nodded, "Next Friday?" He asked as AJ nodded.

"Yeah." AJ said.

"Ok." Punk nodded.

"Can I hug you?" She asked as he looked at her.

"No." Punk shook his head as she nodded to herself.

"Ok." AJ said quietly, "I will… I'll see myself out." She pointed as he nodded, watching her back off and leave the apartment as he sat down on the couch, running his hands through his hair and sighing.

* * *

"It's a shit situation, buddy." Dean nodded, the next night at work as they were getting ready to leave, "But… I got no other advice other than… maybe she's right." Dean said, "Maybe you guys just need to move on now."

"I don't know." Punk shook his head, walking along the docks, pausing when he noticed Thea sitting at the end of the boardwalk, "Uh… I think I forgot to clock out. You go ahead. I'm gonna walk home tonight anyway."

"You sure?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, it's a nice night." Punk nodded.

"Ok, man. Take it easy." Dean patted him on the shoulder and walked off, climbing up the ladder and heading on over to his car whilst Punk looked out to the boardwalk.

He walked down the few steps and walked along the narrow boardwalk, all the way to the very end where Thea was sitting.

"You know, people really shouldn't be out here." Punk said as Thea nodded.

"I know but it's so nice." Thea said, looking out at the water as Punk nodded, "I just got back from my meeting." She said as he sat down on the boardwalk beside her.

"How'd it go?" Punk asked her. Slowly but surely, he could see her leaning towards him again. She wasn't by any means hugging him and approaching him every day, that would come, but the initial process of letting him in was beginning, and his soul was at peace, the father in him was becoming at peace finally.

"It was ok." Thea nodded, "So many people who go to the meeting have no family. Jenny, her parents threw her out of the house when she started drinking all the time. Didn't give her any help." Thea said as Punk frowned, "Makes me feel lucky." She nodded.

"I don't think anything could make me turn my back on my kids." Punk shook his head.

"Really?" Thea asked him, "Not even if I married a Bruins fan?" She questioned as Punk groaned.

"That would be crossing the line." Punk agreed as she smiled a little.

"It does help, though." Thea nodded, "The meetings." She said. She found herself wanting to talk to him, but not really knowing how to go about it. So showing up here pretty much invited that conversation, "Makes me not feel like an alien. There are so many people out there who have addictions. Who have shit going on in their lives." She said as Punk nodded.

"Everybody's got their baggage, Thea." Punk nodded, "We all got something going on." He said as Thea nodded.

"Mom told me she came to see you about the divorce." Thea turned to him as he nodded.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, looking down as she watched him.

"I think it's what she wants." Thea nodded truthfully as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, I think so." Punk nodded, "Not much I can do."

"No, I don't think there is." Thea nodded, "I'm sorry."

"It's… it's not your fault." Punk sighed to himself, "She has every right to want to move on from this chapter in her life. I think we all do." He nodded, "And if this is what she needs for that, if this is what she needs to be happy…" Punk nodded to himself, "Then so be it."

"I remember growing up and always wanting to have someone love me like you loved mom." Thea said as Punk smiled, "I thought that was Jackson." She nodded, "But that didn't go to plan."

"You'll find someone." Punk nodded, "Someone that makes you think… it really won't get any better than this." He said as Thea nodded, "Nothing you need to worry about."

"You still love her?" Thea asked him as Punk nodded.

"Always will." Punk said, "But I'm not gonna trap her in this. I've put her through enough." He shook his head as Thea nodded to herself, "Maybe she always deserved better anyway." He nodded as Thea looked at him.

"When is the court hearing?" Thea asked him.

"Next Friday." Punk nodded, "If I don't go, the judge takes that as my agreement to the settlement so…" He shrugged, "Either or, it's happening." He said as Thea nodded.

"What age were you when you met her?" Thea asked.

"I was sixteen." Punk nodded as Thea looked at him, "Just a baby." He said.

"You dated right away?" Thea asked.

"No. You kidding? It's your mom. She made me work for it." Punk nodded as Thea smiled, "Long time ago." He raised his eyebrows. It still felt like just yesterday.

"I'm sorry it has to end like this." Thea nodded, "I really am." She said sincerely as he looked at her and nodded.

"It's not your fault. It's no one's fault." Punk shook his head.

"I'm still sorry." She nodded. The past few weeks had been challenging for her, emotional and heavy, but extremely eye-opening. She'd realised the people she thought she trusted whole heartedly could still hurt her, and the people she was mad at, still held a place in her heart.

"It's ok." Punk nodded to her, looking out at the water, "You're right. It is nice out here." He said, "I don't notice it when I'm working." He realised as Thea nodded.

"Yeah, I like it." Thea nodded as Punk smiled, watching her.

"I don't wanna make a big deal or anything but… you sitting here talking to me… you have no idea how much that means to me." Punk nodded as she turned to him.

"I'm doing it for the little fourteen year old girl that would come here and cry because she missed her dad." Thea nodded, "And also for the twenty-one year old who… still misses her dad." She nodded as he smiled.

"You don't gotta miss me. I'm here." He assured her as she smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, you're here." Thea nodded, looking out at the water peacefully.


	76. Court

**Court**

* * *

"Big day tomorrow." Sam said, standing in Punk's kitchen as Punk nodded.

"Yeah." Punk grumbled.

"Look, I know you don't want this. I don't think April does either. No one wants to get a divorce." Sam shook her head. She figured she would check on him before a pretty tough day ahead of him tomorrow, "But maybe it could help you both for the long haul."

"There is no moving on for me." Punk said honestly, "I won't be jumping into a new relationship. I won't be dismissing anything that happened in the past. It's not moving on for me." Punk shrugged.

"It's moving on for her, though." Sam nodded, "It's helping her. Surely that means something to you."

"All I want is for her to be happy." Punk nodded.

"I know." Sam sighed, "I wish it didn't have to be this way for you."

"Me neither." Punk shook his head, "I don't know how to say it to her face that I'm sorry for… for being a terrible husband."

"You really think that?" Sam asked.

"You don't?" Punk questioned, "I've put her through hell." He shook his head.

"It's nothing you meant to do. You suffered too." Sam said as Punk nodded, "Which reminds me… how are you sleeping?"

"I'm not." Punk scoffed.

"Phil." Sam said with concern.

"I can't. I close my eyes and I get the nightmares. Even if I'm just napping on the couch." Punk shook his head, "I try my best these days to make sure I'm doing anything but sleeping."

"You need to see someone about it." Sam said, "Don't be stubborn. Get the help. There's no shame in it."

"I'm fine." Punk shook his head.

"You are not fine, Phil." Sam shook her head as Punk just ignored her.

"Thea is actually talking to me." Punk nodded, "I mean… not all the time, but she comes down to the docks and we… we talk." He said as Sam smiled, "It's like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders." He said as Sam nodded.

"I told you. She just needed time. She needed to figure it out for herself that… she still needs her dad." Sam nodded, "And I think she has." She said as Punk nodded, "She's just stubborn, like you." She said as Punk nodded to himself.

"Do you really think April will be happy once the divorce is done?" Punk asked, "Do you think she'll be relieved?"

"I don't know." Sam shook her head, "I know she loves you and she cares about you. But there's also a lot of pain she's went through, a lot of loneliness." She nodded as Punk nodded, "Maybe she thinks the divorce will get rid of that pain."

"I don't want her to be hurting." Punk shook his head, "I just want her… I want her to be happy." He nodded to himself, "I initially wanted her to be happy with me but… I just want her to be happy. She deserves it." He nodded, "God knows she deserves it." He whispered to himself.

"She's never going away." Sam reminded him.

"I think that's why it's so hard." Punk said, "I'm still gonna see her. And do I… do I pretend that our relationship never even happened? Does she wanna forget about all of it and start over?" Punk questioned.

"I think you underestimate how much that woman cherished you in her life." Sam nodded to him, "You don't forget love like that." She shook her head as Punk sighed to himself.

"I can't do anything to stop this." Punk realised, "So if there's anything I can get out of it, it's April finding some sort of happiness." He nodded to himself.

* * *

"Is Philip Jack Brooks present?" A judge asked from the stand as Punk's solicitor stood up and shook his head.

"No, your honour. He is not." The solicitor shook his head with disappointment as AJ sat across on the other desk with her own solicitor. She really thought he would have shown up. She had hoped.

"Then I'll take his absence as agreement to the orders of the divorce." The judge nodded, "Miss Mendez, you're not requesting sole custody?" She asked as AJ shook her head.

"No, I'm not." AJ shook her head, sitting in the court room nervously. All she wanted was for him to show up, to support this, to help each other through this. Yet she looked across at the other desk where he was very clearly not coming to.

"And the divorce is in order for irreconcilable differences, yes?" The judge asked.

"Yes, your honour." AJ nodded.

"Ok, then let's proceed." The judge nodded as AJ sighed to herself. She felt alone, yet again. Like she had for the past eight years.

The judge was suddenly interrupted as the doors to the court room opened, everyone turning around including AJ as she watched with confusion as Thea ran into the room.

"Miss, what are you doing in here?" The judge questioned with confusion.

"That's my daughter." AJ explained, standing up with concern.

"She shouldn't be in here." The judge ordered as AJ looked over at Thea who was holding something.

"I have a letter from Phil Brooks." Thea nodded, "He wanted his solicitor to read it out." She said as AJ looked across at her, shaking her head with confusion as Thea just nodded to her.

"We really don't have time for this." The judge rolled her eyes.

AJ looked over at Thea who nodded, passing the letter over to Punk's solicitor.

"Uh… your honour, I'd like to hear it." AJ nodded, turning to the judge who nodded.

"Yes, very well." The judge leaned back on her chair, "But you have to leave, miss." She nodded to Thea.

"I'm going." Thea nodded, backing away up the court room as AJ watched, slowly sitting back down as Thea disappeared out of the room.

"Mister Parker, please read the letter on behalf of Mister Brooks." The judge nodded to Punk's solicitor who stood up and nodded.

AJ looked over at Punk's solicitor curiously as he opened up the letter to read it.

"April." The solicitor nodded, "I want to apologise for not being here today. I know you wanted me to be there but I just never thought the day would come that I'd be in a court room getting a divorce with you." The solicitor read as AJ looked over.

"August 23rd 1994 was the first day I saw you. You had a Pink Floyd t-shirt on. You had braces. You were yelling at the lunch lady for not giving you your change quick enough whilst I waited in the line behind you." The solicitor read, "I remember thinking I had to talk to you, I had to know you. You were… the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. You sat down at the same table as me for lunch. And you somehow let this… confused, lost, punk kid get to know you."

"When we dated, I knew this was it for me. I realised that I could get through anything… because I had you." The solicitor read as AJ looked over with glassy eyes, "I remember the first time you told me you loved me. We were sitting outside a pizza place. Dean was trying to get us some food with pennies. I don't think you realised you said it to me but I… I remember it like it was yesterday. Whenever I was down in prison, feeling low, missing you… I'd hear you saying that to me. Because with having your love… nothing could ever be that bad for me." The solicitor read as AJ looked down, brushing her finger under her eyes to catch the tears.

"I realise I've hurt you over the years. We have three children and I only saw one of them being born. I've made mistakes. I've been a mess. I've lost who I was. But I… I never planned on losing you. Because even with all the mistakes I made, you were always the one constant thing in my life. And I wish I could have been more for you." The solicitor read as AJ raised her eyebrows.

"I'm sorry for everything I put you through. I'm sorry that you gave me so much of you, so much love, so much care, and I never managed to reciprocate." The solicitor read as AJ looked over, keeping her hand over her mouth to avoid showing her quivering lip, "I spent all my life wanting you, and I always will. But I know now that for you to be happy, you need to move on. And for you to move on, I have to let you go." The solicitor read as AJ looked over.

Hearing his willingness to let her go, his selflessness to lose her, to lose her love, in order for her to be happy. She didn't know how to respond to that, other than with tears.

"That's it." The solicitor nodded, sitting the read letter down as AJ wiped her tears quickly, looking over at the judge who never said anything.

"Uh…" AJ leaned forward, "Your honour, would it be ok to… to postpone this? Postpone this hearing?" AJ asked as her solicitor looked at her.

"Postpone it again?" The judge asked as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, would that be ok?" AJ asked, drying her face as the judge nodded.

"Yes." The judge said, "Postponed, thirty days." The judge slammed the hammer down as AJ stood up, walking over to Punk's solicitor.

"Could I have the letter?" AJ asked as the solicitor nodded, passing it over to her, "Thank you." AJ nodded, walking back over to her desk and taking a seat, looking at the letter and sighing. The feeling of losing him came and hit her like a ton of grips. The more she heard the letter being read, the more she felt her throat getting tighter, the reality of losing him really sinking in. Losing him for real.

"I… I have to go." AJ nodded, standing up from the desk and collecting her things as she ran out of the court room.


	77. Never Let Me Go

**Never Let Me Go**

* * *

"How dare you." AJ stormed her way down the docks as Punk stood up straight, watching as she was coming at him with rage and anger, "Why did you do that?!" AJ yelled, shoving Punk roughly on the chest as he looked at her.

"Do what?" Punk shook his head.

"The letter." AJ gasped, "Why did you do that? Why didn't you just show up… why couldn't you just show up for me? It's all I asked. Why did you have to give that letter in." She spat angrily as Punk looked at her.

"Uh… April, this isn't really a place for this." Dean wandered over.

"Shut your mouth." AJ stared at Dean who put his hands up and backed away with fear, "Why did you send that letter in? As if this isn't hard enough." AJ spat.

"I couldn't face going." Punk said, "Ok? I know it's selfish of me and I should be there to support you but I'm sorry, I don't wanna sit across from you in a court room, as if we're on different sides, as if we're strangers." He said, "Me being there didn't even matter anyway."

"Why the letter?" AJ spat.

"Because it was easier writing that stuff than saying it to your face. It was easier admitting it. And I figured if you were to hear it at some point, it may as well be in there." Punk said.

"Are you trying to make me feel bad?" AJ asked him, "Are you trying to hurt me?"

"What? No." Punk shook his head, "No, of course I'm not." He said.

"You didn't have to send that letter in. And why the hell did Thea bring it?" AJ shook her head.

"I gave it to her last night. I saw her." Punk said briefly, "And I asked her to give it to you in court-"

"Because you knew it would hurt me and you knew it would make me think, and… and doubt myself, and everything I want." AJ said, "Because that's what you do, Phil. You get in people's heads." She pointed at him as Punk shook his head with confusion.

"Why are you so angry at this?" Punk asked. This wasn't the reaction he thought he was going to get.

"Why wouldn't I be? Don't you think this is painful enough without you… taking a trip down memory lane? I'm sitting there, about to divorce you and you're talking about… about when we met… as if I don't remember how amazing that was?" AJ questioned as he looked at him, "How dare you."

"How dare I?" Punk questioned, putting his hand on his chest, "I'm just telling you how I feel-"

"Then do it like a normal person. Come talk to me." She spat. She had no idea how to react to this. Her heart still felt tight like how it was when she listened to what he'd wrote on the letter. Anger was her way of keeping her emotions at bay. Keeping them held in.

"You have your heart set on moving on. I didn't think you'd wanna hear me talk about all of that. It was easier this way." Punk shrugged, "I'm sorry if it hurt you-"

"Story of your life." AJ spat as Punk nodded.

"Yeah. You're right." Punk said, "It is." He nodded as she looked at him, "So are we divorced?" He questioned as she shook her head, backing away from him and storming away as he threw his hands up in the air with confusion, turning to Dean who kept his distance and watched AJ walking away.

"Is this because you never showed up?" Dean made his way over to Punk.

"I… I have a feeling it's about the letter." Punk said, "I thought it was best to get it out before the divorce, you know?" He turned to Dean who nodded, "I wasn't trying to make her feel bad. I just… I mean I said I was gonna let her go if that's what she wanted. If that's what was gonna make her happy." He said, "I can't fucking win. She hates it when I ask her for a chance and she hates it when I tell her we can move on." Punk turned to Dean with confusion.

"You know why that is." Dean stated as Punk nodded.

"It's hard to see her like that and think she even loves me anymore, at this point." Punk said.

"I think that's the whole problem, brother. I don't think she wants this divorce." Dean said.

"Oh, she does." Punk nodded.

"No…" Dean shook his head, "She heard that letter and she questioned everything. She heard you saying you'd let her go and it scared her. Made it real for her." Dean nodded, "And now she's angry at you because that's what April does to avoid crying."

"I can't keep up." Punk shook his head, "I don't know what she wants me to do." He said.

"I don't think she knows that either." Dean said as Punk shook his head, "Come on. Let's get back to work." He patted Punk on the back who ran his hands through his hair stressfully.

* * *

AJ got home later that night, dumping her purse at the door and walking through to the kitchen. Her mind was spinning with all sorts. Her heart still felt tight. Like the skin on her chest was stretching, ready to burst at any minute. As soon as she heard that letter, as soon as she heard his willingness to let her go, even when it wasn't what he wanted, she had to question everything.

She acted out in anger because it was all she knew. It was her roots showing. To avoid heartbreak, she clenched her fists and raised her voice. Somehow, she knew he recognised that behaviour. He had the very same behaviour.

"Cassie is in bed and Jude is staying with a friend." Thea said, sitting at the kitchen table on her computer doing college work with a plate of cookies beside her.

"You put Cassie to bed?" AJ asked.

"Yeah." Thea nodded, "And gave her a bath. She needed her hair washed." Thea said, "Her lunch is packed for the morning. I can drop her at school if you like." She said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah, that'd be good." AJ nodded, sitting down at the table and taking a deep breath as Thea looked at her.

"Is that sigh because you just got a divorce or because you realise you don't want one?" Thea asked as AJ looked at her with teary eyes. Sooner or later, she knew the tears were gonna come, "Mom." Thea frowned sadly. She hated seeing her mother upset.

"I thought I wanted this." AJ shook her head as Thea closed her laptop down and looked at AJ, "I did want this." She said, drying her eyes, "I wanted to be done with this chapter. I wanted all of us to move on. Put the past behind us and just… start a new chapter. A good chapter." AJ said.

"Mom…" Thea said as AJ looked at her, "It's ok if you want to start a new chapter… with dad." She nodded as AJ shook her head, "It is."

"I don't." AJ shook her head as Thea looked at her, unconvinced.

"Why do you think this is so hard for you to do?" Thea asked her as AJ shrugged, putting her hands up, "You know why." Thea nodded.

"He said that because he loved me, he was gonna have to let me go." AJ said, "And I… it was the first time I'd heard him say that. First time I'd heard it out loud." She said.

"You don't want him to let you go?" Thea asked as AJ shook her head.

"No, I don't think so." AJ cried as Thea nodded.

"That's ok." Thea assured her, "It's ok."

"No… I can't… I can't be with him." AJ shook her head.

"Yes you can." Thea nodded, "I know it's scary. And there's the what if… but we can't live like that. We can't take that away from ourselves. That's giving into fear and we're Mendez women. We don't do that." Thea scoffed as AJ smiled, drying her eyes, "He's out and he's here. And it's ok to want him in our lives again."

"You were the last person I thought would say that." AJ nodded as Thea smiled.

"The fear is always gonna be there, the what if we lose him again, and we're always gonna remember that pain of losing him but… we can't let that rule our lives." Thea shook her head as AJ nodded, "He wasn't gonna give you the letter, you know."

"What?" AJ said.

"He showed me it and he said he did it, to see what words would come out. He wanted to all to your face but didn't know how. He was gonna rip the letter up and forget about it but… I thought it was something you'd wanna hear." Thea nodded, "And I think it was important you heard it before you agreed to the divorce."

"Felt like I saw my life flash before me." AJ shook her head, "And then I went to see him after it and I just got mad at him because it's what I do." She said with frustration.

"Then go talk to him right now." Thea nodded as AJ looked at her, "He'll still be at the docks. You can catch him." She said as AJ nodded slowly, "Don't be afraid. Once you get rid of that fear, you'll figure out how you really feel and what you really want."

"You're ok here?" AJ stood up.

"I'm good." Thea assured her, "Go." She nodded, watching as AJ left the kitchen.

It wasn't about her anymore. All she wanted was for her mother to be happy. To figure out what she truly wanted. Because her mother's happiness was extremely important to her. She'd always been there for her. Through everything.

* * *

AJ got in her car and drove off into the rainy, dark night. It was something she didn't want to admit, but there was an incredible amount of fear holding her back. There always had been, and she tried everything to hide it from everyone. She realised once she shifted that fear, there was still the same love and want she had for Punk, it had simply never changed.

The fear of losing him had been cancelled out today by the fear of him letting her go, letting her move on, and that was the moment she realised… she didn't want to move on. Not from him. Not from them.

She drove to the docks, getting out of the car and closing the door over as she saw him in the car park, on his own, about to get into his car.

"Phil!" AJ called as he turned around.

Punk turned around and groaned a little. He didn't want to have round two with her. He didn't want to fight with her.

"What are you doing out here?" Punk asked, the rain causing his hair to cover his forehead and over his eyes as he tried to swipe it back.

"You said all that stuff in that letter as if I don't know." AJ said, "As if I don't remember it." She said as he looked across at her, "I remember it. I remember the first time we kissed." She nodded, "And how I thought… I hope I always get to kiss you." She shook her head as Punk looked at her.

"April… the letter wasn't to hurt you. It was me telling you that… you being happy is all I care about, and if… if moving on from me and everything that's happened with us is gonna make you happy then I want you to do that. Of course." He said as she shook her head, moving closer to him.

"But I don't want that." AJ shook her head, "This divorce, this idea of moving on from you, it was just fuelled by my fear of losing you again. Because I'd never felt pain like that in my life." She said as he looked down at her, "Strip away the fear." She nodded to herself, "And the last thing I want is for you to let me go." She said as he looked down at her, "I never want you to let me go." She shook her head, placing her wet hands on his neck as he looked down at her.

"I never planned to." He shook his head as she got closer to him, their bodies touching as she looked up at him.

"So don't." She said, leaning up and pressing her lips against his as his hands fell to her waist, kissing her back as she deepened the kiss, feeling him press her against the side of the car as she ran her hands through his wet hair.

Punk could feel that she wasn't scared just by how loose she felt with him, how relaxed he felt her body. All he wanted was to show her that he was the same guy he'd always been, and through actions, somehow show her that he wasn't going, she wasn't going to lose this again.

AJ opened up the back car door whilst kissing him, pulling the door open as she got inside whilst he followed, closing the door behind him.

He sat in the back seat as she straddled herself over him. He peeled her wet dress over her head as she then reciprocated by pulling his wet t-shirt over his head, tossing it onto the floor of the car and locking lips with him again.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, wanting him as close as she could get him whilst his arms circled around her waist, handles settling at the small of her back as they took turns of deepening their kiss.

His lips detached from hers, kissing down her jaw and to her neck as she rolled her head back and moaned, her hands running down his chest as she undone his jeans.

Hands got tangled in different places as she lost her bra and he pushed his jeans and boxers down. Both thankful that it was dark outside and the windows were steamed up.

AJ stroked his length up and down a few times before pushing her panties aside and sinking down upon him, her walls closing around him as they both moaned at the feeling.

"Fuck." Punk growled, placing his hands on her waist as she bit her lip, placing her hands on his shoulders.

She began moving up and down on him slowly as their lips reconnected, bodies close and their arms pulling each other tighter in. It felt right, it felt good, and without that fear weighing her down, it felt like everything she'd been longing for this entire time. She was no longer exhausted by the denial.


	78. Realisation

**Realisation**

* * *

"You're not running off on me this time." Punk said quietly, laying in the back seat of the car, sat up against the door with AJ in his arms as she nodded.

"I don't want to." AJ said honestly, "I never wanted to the first time." She said truthfully as he nodded.

"I know." Punk nodded. Words couldn't describe how good it felt to have her here like this. To feel her let him in, for real this time, "I don't want you to ever feel scared of this." He said as she nodded, running her fingers up and down his arm which wrapped around her.

"I'm just so worried that… that I lose you again. I don't think I could go through all of that pain again." She shook her head.

"You won't have to." Punk said, "I am never going away. I know that everything I do now, it has consequences, and not just for me, for all of you. For you, my kids, Dean… my whole family." He said, "I think before I was more obsessed with just keeping it all under control. I never thought about the… what if I do get caught. And yeah, that's probably unhealthy and it was stupid, and it got us all hurt… I gotta live with that." He nodded.

"We should never have been in that situation anyway." AJ said, "We walked away from that life years and years ago." She said.

"Still… in the back of my head I think… maybe I could have done something differently." Punk said, "But thinking about that and wasting time making up scenarios in my head… it's just that, wasting time. And I'm here now, I wanna live my life again, but it really has no meaning if I can't live it with you or my kids." He said as she smiled softly.

"I missed this." She whispered.

Just laying with him in the peaceful sound of nothing, took her back to before. Before things went wrong. And it was such a wonderful, relaxing feeling. One she couldn't deprive herself of anymore.

"I did too." Punk whispered, leaning down and kissing her cheek as she smiled.

"Some nights this was all I wanted. Not the sex, not even the talking…" She said, "Just to lay with you again." She nodded, "And feel you."

He knew exactly what she meant. Ultimately, they missed each other in the exact same ways. Whilst he assumed he would be lying awake in his cell, staring up at the top bunk and dreaming of holding his wife again, it appeared she was doing the same thing in her own bed.

"Yeah, this was the stuff I was dreaming about." Punk agreed.

"What else were you dreaming about?" She asked him.

"Us being together again." Punk nodded, "The girls." He said, "I had this ridiculous thought in my head that I'd walk out those gates and you'd all be standing there, and things would just resume back to how it was before." He said, "Deep down I knew that was never gonna happen." He said, "But it kept me going."

"It was just… such a long time." AJ shook her head, "Even just after a couple months, I… it felt like years were going by." She said as he nodded.

"Yeah, I know." Punk nodded, "Why did you change your mind tonight?" He asked, of course very curious.

"My mind never had to be changed. I had to figure out what I really wanted. What I knew I wanted deep down." AJ said, "Hearing that letter in court, hearing you agree to let me go if it made me happy… it just… I don't know, it scared me." She said, "The only thing that was holding me back was the fear. The fear of it all going wrong again." She nodded.

"I think it's normal to feel like that, especially with the length of time I was gone. But all I can do is promise you that… that's not gonna happen again." Punk said, "And that's up to you if you believe me or not. I don't expect you to right now but…" He paused, "When I was writing that letter, made me realise how terrible I've been over the years to you. You always stood by me, you always helped me even when I didn't deserve it… and I've never been able to fully give back the same energy and I hate that-"

"Yes you have." AJ nodded, "I don't want you to think that of yourself. That's now what I think of you." She assured him, "From the second you got back from prison the first time, to the second you left for it again… you were there for me. That was thirteen years of… good memories and fun. A new baby. A marriage. Birthdays and Christmas'. You supported me through college and my new job. You were ok with doing the stay at home dad thing whilst I tried to make a good career for myself." She said, "I mean that's why all of this was so tough… because we did have it good. We had a good life and it all went South so quickly." She nodded.

"You think it's too late to fix it?" Punk asked her.

"I hope not." AJ whispered, lacing her fingers through his and tilting her head up to look at him, "I just can't lose you again, Phil." She shook her head.

"You won't." He caressed her cheek sweetly as she looked at him, "I'm not going anywhere."

"I thought that before. Before all of this happened." AJ reminded him.

"I know that. I know… and I got no excuses. I got caught. Plain and simple." Punk nodded, "But that's over now. That part of both our lives are over and we can try move on… together." He nodded as she smiled and nodded along, "I'm not saying I gotta move into the house again and we forget it all happened, because that's not healthy, but… gradually just work our way towards what we've always had." He said as she nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah, that's what I want." AJ nodded. It was a lot easier agreeing with something she actually wanted, rather than telling herself she wanted something different, like to divorce him and go their separate ways. Because that wasn't what she wanted.

"I promise I'll do better. I'll be better." He kissed her head.

"You never had to be better, Phil." AJ looked up at him, "You just got caught up in the wrong things. We were out on our own since we were sixteen. We had no home. And yeah, that sounds like a lot of excuses but… it's hard when you're out in the scary world at such a young age. You see things that you don't wanna see. Do things you don't wanna do." AJ nodded.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, knowing that to be true.

"You got caught up in it. We moved from that life when Thea was a baby. We worked hard and we got out." AJ said, "It'd be a different story if you were actively searching for that involvement again, but… it got dumped on us and you got caught." She said, "I can't blame you for that. I wanted to when you were gone. Thea wanted to. But we knew it wasn't your fault." AJ said as Punk nodded.

"I still wanna do my best by you." Punk said, "Living in prison for eight years. Makes you think about all the things you should have done. All the things you shouldn't have done." Punk nodded, "And it's the same thoughts over and over again, twenty-four hours a day, every day." Punk nodded as AJ looked up at him.

"Did you… talk to someone in prison?" AJ asked, "Because it was such a long time you were there?"

"No, I never saw anyone." Punk shook his head as she looked at up at him, "But I'm ok." He assured her. He knew he wasn't, but he just wanted to take this moment in without ruining it.

"You'll talk to me about it, won't you?" She asked him as he nodded.

"Of course I will." Punk nodded, "Nothing that interesting, though." He smiled to her, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"I don't mean to let me know what I missed." AJ smiled a little, "Talk to me about it like I'm your wife." She said.

"You are my wife." He chuckled a little as she nodded.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, resting her head back down on his chest, "You know I really didn't think Thea would be the one to get through to me. Not about this anyway." AJ said.

"She's been talking to me." Punk nodded.

"She has?" AJ questioned.

"Not a lot." Punk said, "But sometimes, she'll come down here and we'll talk for a little bit." Punk nodded, "It's… it's still mad that she's twenty-one. When I left she was just becoming a teenager." He shook his head as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, it's scary to me too." AJ nodded, "She's a good kid." She said, "Strong." She nodded.

"I had nothing to do with that." Punk said, "She got that from you. From watching you." Punk nodded as AJ smiled to herself, "I'm always gonna regret losing all that time. With all of them." He said as AJ nodded.

"You still have time." AJ nodded, "They'll never stop needing you." She shook her head, "Even Thea." She said, "She needed time to figure it out within herself first."

"I think she's figuring it out." Punk nodded.

"Yeah." AJ smiled, "I think she is." AJ nodded, "I think we all are." She looked up at him as he smiled.

"Yeah." He smiled, leaning down and pressing his lips against hers softly as she leaned into the kiss lovingly, cupping his face and resting into him. All the time in the world couldn't have changed how she felt. Letting go of that fear made her realise that. It made her realise she really couldn't live without this man in her life.


	79. Released

**Released**

* * *

"Thea!" Laura ran across the path just as Thea was heading into college the next morning. 9am wasn't the time to chat with anyone, never mind someone who was overly optimistic about pretty much everything in the entire world.

"Hey." Thea nodded tiredly, crossing her arms as she waited at the door. She was still half asleep, in some comfy leggings and a hoodie. College really wasn't her happy place, but she knew she needed to go to get to where she wanted to.

"Hey." Laura smiled, "I just wanted to let you know how much we raised for the car wash." She said.

"Oh, yeah." Thea said, "How much?"

"Four thousand and twenty seven dollars." Laura said precisely as Thea raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, wow." Thea nodded, "That's a lot of money." She said as Laura smiled, of course proud of herself, which Thea understood, "I'm sure it's gonna help some guys in a crisis." She smiled, "It was a good idea."

"Thank you." Laura nodded as Thea smiled, about to head into campus, "How are you?" Laura asked as Thea turned to her.

"Well it's a Monday morning. I have bio until 2pm. Haven't had my coffee yet." Thea said.

"I just… I heard about what happened to you." Laura said as Thea looked at her, "I remember seeing your boyfriend… ex-boyfriend…" She made clear, "If he was picking you up or dropping you off." She nodded, "Before you got your car."

"Laura, are you stalking me?" Thea teased with a smile as Laura smiled nervously, "Yeah, it sucks." She nodded, "It's not like I can go out and have a night with the girls to help either."

"Why not?" Laura shook her head as Thea looked at her.

"Well I have a problem. I can't just have one drink." Thea said, in simple terms, "I don't know, there's a word for it… alcoholic." She waved her hand as Laura nodded slowly.

"Oh." Laura said, not really knowing what to say as Thea looked at her.

"How are you?" Thea smiled.

"Me?" Laura questioned as Thea nodded.

"Yeah, you." Thea nodded.

"I'm fine. I'm good." Laura said as Thea nodded with a smile.

"I'm glad. Seriously, well done on raising all that money." She nodded, about to walk away.

"Uh… wait…" Laura said nervously, going back and forth in her head on whether or not she should ask, "Uh." Laura paused as Thea looked at her.

"What's up?" Thea laughed a little.

"Well me and my friends are going to the museum this weekend." Laura said, "And I just… well I wanted to invite you." She nodded, "And it's totally fine if you can't come or… or you don't wanna come. Of course you probably don't wanna come." Laura laughed a little as Thea looked at her.

"I'd love to go." Thea nodded as Laura raised her eyebrows, "Yeah, that sounds like fun." Thea said.

"Really?" Laura asked.

"Yeah." Thea said, "Thank you for inviting me."

"I just thought you could use the company. And we… me and my friends won't be drinking so…" She made clear as Thea smiled and nodded.

"Well that does help me out." Thea nodded. Just seeing someone be kind and decent. Even something simple like asking how she was, it was a true test of character and Thea appreciated that. They weren't similar people, at all, but that didn't have to matter. The thought was the real matter.

"You better get to your class, I don't wanna make you late." Laura said as Thea nodded.

"I'll see you this weekend then." Thea nodded, "Text me. You have my number, right?"

"I do." Laura said as Thea nodded, "I'll text you the details."

"Great. I'll see you around." Thea said, walking off into campus.

She barely got into the college building before she heard her phone bleeping. She pulled it out of her pocket, smiling to herself as she saw Laura had already text messaged her all the details.

* * *

"Check it out." Punk said, taking off the wrap around his arm, crouching down in front of Cassie who was watching curiously, "You like my new tat?" He asked her as Cassie looked on and gasped.

"It's a soccer ball." Cassie noticed, "And it's got my name around it." She noticed.

"Yeah, pretty cool, huh?" Punk nodded.

"Dad, that's on you for life." Cassie said with shock as Punk laughed a little.

"That's the whole point." Punk nodded.

"What if I start to hate soccer?" She folded her arms, becoming very political about it as Punk laughed a little.

"Like that will ever happen. You're crazy obsessed." Punk said.

"Maybe." Cassie nodded, "I do like it." She smiled.

"Yeah?" Punk said as she nodded, "Me too. My first tattoo in over eight years. I had to make it a special one." He said as Cassie smiled, getting shy and wasted as she looked down.

"Will you get more?" She asked, taking his hand and walking through to the kitchen with him. He had stopped by the house just to show her the tattoo.

"Maybe. They gotta be really special, though." He said.

"You don't even have any room." Cassie laughed as Punk smiled.

"I'll find the room, don't you worry." Punk said, walking into the kitchen where AJ was.

"Mom, dad got a tattoo for me." Cassie exclaimed as AJ turned around.

"Oh, yeah?" AJ asked, looking over at Punk, drying her hands on a kitchen towel as she walked over to take a look, "Where am I looking?"

"Right there." Cassie pointed, "It's a soccer ball. Because that's what I love and… and it has my name." Cassie said excitedly as AJ looked on.

"Nice." AJ nodded, looking up at Punk who smiled, "Just done?"

"Yeah, I came straight from the tattoo shop." Punk nodded, "First one in eight years."

"Now you'll get the itch again." AJ said, walking back over to the counter where she was drying and putting away some dishes.

"Probably." Punk nodded, smiling over to her as she smiled back.

"Hey, babe can you take your back-pack upstairs." AJ said, handing Cassie her back-pack, "And take Jude's for me too."

"Why should I take Jude's?" Cassie batted her eyes, taking both the backpacks, "I'm not a donkey." She said as Punk chuckled to himself quietly.

"No, but you can help mom tidy up this place, huh?" AJ nodded, flicking Cassie's chin as she huffed her way out of the kitchen, "I could fall and break my leg and she would detest helping me." AJ shook her head as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, and she doesn't hide showing it." Punk laughed as AJ nodded, looking across at him as he just stared.

It was a little strange. Given how they'd spent last night in the back of his car, having to still act separate felt odd. Neither really knew the right way to go about this.

"Thea should be home soon." AJ nodded, breaking the awkward silence, "And Jude is out with some friends. Cass has an early night tonight. She's got a soccer game early tomorrow morning."

"I know, I'll be there." Punk nodded, "I specifically asked for this Saturday off work." He said.

"Well I know she loves you being there." AJ nodded as he smiled.

"Hey, what are we… how are we doing this?" He asked, "You got any idea?"

"No." AJ laughed a little as he nodded, "I do think we shouldn't tell the kids just yet. Just… for the time being." She said as he nodded.

"Yeah, I agree." Punk said. Whilst they were still figuring things out, they didn't want to complicate anything by telling the girls and getting them involved.

"Thea asked me this morning how it went and I just told her we talked and we're still figuring it all out." AJ nodded, "Jude and Cassie don't even know anything is going on anyway."

"I think it is best we keep it lowkey until we've figured it out." Punk said.

"What are figuring out exactly?" AJ laughed a little as he smiled.

"I honestly don't know." He laughed as she nodded. In reality, there was nothing to really figure out, "Alright then let me put a suggestion out there." He said, "What's your day off next week?"

"Friday." AJ said.

"Ok." Punk nodded, "Would you like to have dinner with me on Friday night?" He asked as AJ looked across at him, smiling.

"Yes." AJ nodded, "I would like to have dinner with you on Friday night." She smiled as he nodded.

"There. We figured something out." He nodded as she chuckled.

"We did." AJ said, listening as someone came in the door, looking down the hallway as she noticed it was Thea, "Hey, you." AJ nodded as Thea walked on into the kitchen.

"Hey." Thea nodded, noticing Punk in the kitchen and nodding to him as he smiled.

"How was your day?" AJ asked as Thea nodded.

"It was ok." Thea said, "I uh… I just got off the phone with a cop from the station."

"What cop?" Punk shook his head.

"The one dealing with Jackson's case." Thea gulped, "He made bail." She said, "He's out." She nodded, looking over at Punk specifically as he raised his eyebrows.

"How the hell is he out?" Punk shook his head.

"I-I don't know… the cop said something about a mistrial and another hearing for bail. He changed lawyers and managed to get another hearing." Thea shook her head, "He's out of jail." She said worriedly as AJ looked across at her.

"Hey, that doesn't mean he's gonna come near you. If anything he… he's gonna avoid you at all costs. Right?" AJ looked over at Punk who was too angry to say anything, "If he came near you he would be making it worse for himself and for the case." AJ nodded.

"Your mom is right." Punk nodded, "It's… it's ok, you're gonna be ok." He said as she nodded.

"I'm gonna put my bag upstairs." Thea nodded, backing up out of the kitchen as AJ turned to Punk with concern.

"I don't like this." AJ shook her head, "I don't like this at all."

"No, I don't either." Punk agreed.

"How'd he get out?" AJ shook her head angrily, "After what he did. She… she'll be terrified." AJ said, running her hand through her hair.

"Nothing will happen to her. She's gonna be ok." Punk assured her as AJ sighed. He'd make sure of it this time, from the get go.


	80. Stay Away

**Stay Away**

* * *

"How can he make bail after what he did?" AJ asked, standing in the living room with Punk, "That's not right."

"I've text Dean. He'll find out how he got out. Friend of a friend works in the station." Punk said, putting his phone back in his pocket, "Thea said he got changed lawyers so… must have worked it out through that." He shook his head.

"After what he did to her? He's just been let out back into the world?" AJ questioned angrily.

"April, you know if he comes near her then he jeopardises his case-"

"No, what happens if he comes near her is I kill him." AJ clasped her hands, "In simple terms." She shrugged as Punk nodded, understanding her anger. He felt the same. It was taking a lot of him to not show it.

"We'll keep her safe." Punk nodded, "She'll be ok." He promised as AJ nodded, "Once Dean gets back to me I'll… I'll see if we can do anything. If we can appeal or something-"

"I doubt we will." AJ said, "If he's out, he's out. He'll have a hearing in a couple weeks I guess." She nodded, "I just… I don't want my daughter scared to leave her house and… live her life." She shook her head, "She's been through enough."

"I know." Punk sighed. He certainly felt helpless. There was no way Jackson should have been allowed out of jail, especially given his mental state.

"I mean, surely he was evaluated in jail." AJ folded her arms, "Given his complete instability, why the hell has he been let out? If he's a danger to himself and others?" AJ questioned.

"Because the system is fucked up. Picks and chooses when it wants to work." Punk shook his head, running his hand through his hair, "If he wants a lesser sentence, he'll have to stay away from her." Punk nodded, "That'll be part of the deal for his bail." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah." AJ nodded hopefully, "But that doesn't mean I trust that. I mean we know his plan was to take her away somewhere. What if he tries to do that again? Go on the run?" AJ questioned as Punk shook his head.

"He's not gonna get that chance." Punk shook his head, listening as Thea came back downstairs and wandered into the living room.

"I think I should try talk to him." Thea said as Punk and AJ stared at her.

"Absolutely no way." AJ shook her head.

"Why would you want to do that?" Punk questioned.

"To get some answers." Thea shrugged, "To… To see where his head is at-"

"Thea, you have to be kidding me." AJ looked across at her, "You are going nowhere near that boy. He's sick and he needs help. He shouldn't be out in the first place. I will… I may as well go down to the station myself and ask for good explanation why he's been let out-"

"No, you're not gonna do that." Punk said calmly, trying to be the voice of reason, "And you're not going to see him." He told Thea, "Just stay away from him."

"But if I can just-"

"No." Punk said sternly, "You stay away from him. There is nothing he can say to change what he did to you, and you know that." He said as Thea looked across at him, "Everybody just stay away from him." He looked at both AJ and Thea.

AJ looked across at him and nodded slowly. She'd missing having another authority figure in the house. Making decisions, doing this on her own for so long, it of course became exhausting. He'd always been smart and wise, even from a young age. And she knew he had so much kindness and decency inside him. Especially when it came to protecting his family.

* * *

"Ok, my buddy got back to me." Dean nodded as Punk arrived at Dean's house later that night, walking through to the kitchen where Renee and Chrissy were.

"Renee." Punk nodded as Renee smiled, "Hey, Chrissy."

"Hey, uncle Phil." Chrissy smiled, giving him a hug as Punk kissed her head.

"Sorry to interrupt." Punk said.

"Don't be silly." Renee shook her head, "I'm gonna drop Chrissy off at her friend's house." Renee told Dean.

"What friend?" Dean arched a brow.

"Just… one of my girl friends, dad." Chrissy shook her head.

"Yeah yeah, keep it that way." Dean nodded as Chrissy scoffed and left the kitchen as Renee just smiled and followed, "I think she's got a boyfriend." Dean nodded to Punk who laughed a little, "It's not funny."

"It is a little." Punk nodded, "Hey, my daughter's ex-boyfriend has just been released from jail. It could be worse." He shook his head as Dean nodded, "What you got?"

"Ok, my buddy just said that he changed lawyers and his lawyer got another bail hearing for him. He also got revaluated-"

"How the fuck can he get another bail hearing?" Punk shook his head.

"His lawyer must have pulled the right strings." Dean nodded as Punk shook his head, "How is Thea?"

"Scared." Punk nodded, "So is AJ."

"It's understandable." Dean nodded, "The little prick shouldn't be out in the public. Not after what he did. He's a danger to himself and to others." He shook his head, "I swear that station picks and chooses when they wanna follow the rules. When it's people like us, who they hate, we don't get shit. You never even got put forward for a bail hearing."

"Yeah, well they fucking hate me down there." Punk shrugged, "I just… I don't want Thea feeling unsafe. She said she wants to talk to him but-"

"Is she crazy?" Dean scoffed, "I hope you're not gonna let her-"

"Well here's the thing. I advised her not to go near him, well…. I told her not to. But… she's a grown adult. She's twenty one-"

"What benefit would she get out of seeing him? After what happened before?" Dean questioned.

"I think she thinks that she'll get answers." Punk said, "I think the truth was, he was fucking out his face on whatever drugs, he's jealous that she was talking to some other guy, he's extremely controlling and… I don't want her to think it was just… just some misunderstanding." Punk shook his head.

"She's not stupid." Dean said confidently, "He… pinned her down and tried to inject shit into her. Surely you can't see him in a different light after that." Dean shook his head.

"No, I don't think so." Punk nodded, "I just want her to be safe." He shook his head, "It's bullshit that he's out. I reckon that his lawyer will have warned him to stay away from her but I don't trust the guy." He shook his head.

"How about we go talk to him?" Dean asked as Punk looked at him, "Just a… good old friendly chat." He folded his arms as Punk looked at him. Of course Dean wasn't actually talking about going for a chat.

"I'm still on probation." Punk reminded him, "As much as I'd love to punch him in the face, I can't." Punk said, "I gotta do the right things now." He said as Dean scoffed.

"Says who?" Dean teased.

"Says my entire family who actually might be giving me a chance again." Punk nodded as Dean looked at him, "I mean… Thea is actually talking to me now. I walk into a room and she acknowledges my presence. A few weeks ago… she didn't." He said, "And April… she's not going through with the divorce and she's gonna have dinner with me next week." He said as Dean raised his eyebrows, "I am not doing anything to fuck all of that up."

"Of course." Dean nodded, "AJ really changed her mind?" He asked.

"Yeah. She's just so scared." Punk shook his head, "And It's tough knowing that she's scared to be with me but… I know her and I can get through to her." He nodded, "The fact she's given it a chance is all I need." He said.

"Well I'm happy for you." Dean nodded sincerely, "I never really thought it'd happen anyway. Or I figured you'd get a divorce and end up back with each other sooner or later." He said as Punk nodded, "It's good. Just take it easy and take it slow."

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "I just… I'm worried about Thea. And her safety." He shook his head as Dean nodded.

"Of course you are." Dean said, "Look, I'll find out when Jackson's sentencing hearing is." Dean nodded, "In the meantime, you just gotta trust that he'll stay away and she'll be ok."

"How the hell can I do that?" Punk sighed.

"Because you gotta let her live her life. You can't keep her locked up until he's sentenced." Dean said as Punk nodded.

"I know." Punk sighed, running his hand through his hair, "I just… I can't have her getting hurt."

"I know." Dean nodded, patting him on the back, "The sooner he's sentenced the better."

* * *

"Hey." AJ walked into Thea's room later that night where she was sat on her bed, watching her TV, "Can I come in?" AJ asked.

"You're already in." Thea pointed out as AJ was walking into the room, "I'm fine. You don't have to make a fuss over me. If he's out, he's out."

"I know I just… I just wanna make sure you're ok." AJ nodded, "I know you loved him and cared about him. And it's been hard for you to come to terms with what he did." She said, walking over to her and sitting down on the edge of the bed, "And I think him being out is insane. It shouldn't be allowed-"

"Well he's out." Thea nodded.

"I don't want you be scared of going out and leaving the house." AJ said, "It's not fair. After what he did, he shouldn't be allowed out of jail. He's a danger to himself and others." AJ said.

"Dad is right. He probably won't come near me." Thea shrugged.

"Why did you say you wanted to see him?" AJ asked her as Thea looked across at her and shrugged.

"To find out why he did this." Thea nodded, "Maybe then it'd be easier."

"Babe, there isn't anything he can say that would ever make it ok what he did to you." AJ made clear.

"I know." Thea nodded, "I know, but maybe it was all just the drugs. I know how it can be. You're not yourself. You do crazy things-"

"He was fist fighting with you." AJ looked at Thea, "On drugs or not, you don't do that with someone you're supposed to love and care about." She said as Thea looked at her, "I know it might be easier to pretend that he didn't do it, but that is not what you deserve." She shook her head as Thea nodded.

"I just thought I really knew him." Thea shook her head, playing with the corner of her blanket as she looked down.

"I know. I know you did." AJ nodded, "But you deserve someone who is going to respect you way more than he ever did."

"You never liked him, did you?" Thea nodded to herself.

"No, because I didn't think he was good enough for you." AJ said, "I think he was unstable and… controlling-"

"And you're telling me this now?" Thea asked a little angrily.

"I didn't want to get involved. And for a while… with your dad being gone, you were so shut off from everything, but when you were with him, you did smile and you laughed and I wanted that for you more than anything." AJ nodded, "I never thought it would ever come to this, though." She shook her head.

"Yeah, me neither." Thea shook her head.

"I just don't want you to be scared. That's not fair. Not after all the shit he's caused already." AJ shook her head as Thea nodded.

"I'll be ok." Thea nodded, "Don't worry about me."

"That's like telling water not to be wet." AJ smiled as Thea nodded, "It's gonna be ok." She nodded, rubbing Thea's arm comfortingly as Thea nodded.

Of course it was a big concern with Jackson out in the public. She was fiercely protective of all of her daughters, and she wasn't going to stop at anything to keep them safe.


	81. Sister Talk

**Sister Talk**

* * *

"Ok, now move this number down below here." Thea said, sitting next to Cassie in the kitchen table, helping her with her homework.

"I'm bored of this." Cassie rolled her eyes, scribbling down more numbers as Thea laughed a little.

"Yeah, I can see that." Thea nodded, "Now subtract, starting with the right numbers." She pointed as Cassie looked at it.

"How do you know all of this stuff?" Cassie questioned.

"Because I went to school." Thea nodded, "Don't you worry, you'll know all there is to know soon enough." She said.

"I'd rather just play soccer." Cassie admitted as Thea smiled.

"I know you would." Thea nodded.

"Are you going to be a doctor?" Cassie asked her curiously. Of course, her big sisters were her biggest inspirations. She wanted to be just like them. She wanted to be all grown up like them, whilst all Thea wished for was to be young again, and do everything over. Make up for all the mistakes she made.

"I don't know." Thea said truthfully, "I don't know what I'm gonna do. I gotta think about it." She nodded.

"You'd be a nice doctor." Cassie smiled, "Because you look after me if I'm sick." She said as Thea smiled.

"That's because you're my baby sister. I have to." Thea nodded, "You think I'd make a good doctor?"

"Yes." Cassie nodded, doing her homework sums as Thea smiled to herself just as Jude got home, dumping her things at the door and walking through to the kitchen where her two sisters were.

"Hey." Jude said.

"Hi." Cassie smiled.

"Hey, do you think I'd make a good doctor?" Thea asked Jude who scoffed.

"Please. You'll be a stripper in a few years." Jude shook her head as Thea laughed.

"What's a stripper?" Cassie asked them.

"It's just… a type of doctor." Thea assured her, turning to Jude who chuckled to herself, "I heard you get a lot of money doing that actually."

"Of course you did. You looking into it?" Jude asked, teasing her as Thea just laughed.

"Hey, it'd be easier let's face it." Thea shook her head, "There's dinner on the stove I made earlier. Have some." Thea nodded.

As she'd gotten older, she had become a more parental figure to Cassie and Jude. More so Cassie. There were times were AJ was late home from work, she would take over and help.

"Where is mom?" Jude asked, plating up some dinner and sitting down at the table.

"She is working late." Thea nodded.

"Is that right?" Cassie asked Thea who looked on.

"No, you've got the 3 times 6 wrong." Thea pointed out, "Here." She pointed as Cassie looked.

"Oh, I don't wanna do this." Cassie sat her pencil down and folded her arms as Jude chuckled.

"I'll finish it for you, go watch TV." Thea nodded.

"Really?" Cassie smiled.

"Yes." Thea said, "But don't tell mom." She warned as Cassie nodded, running away out of the kitchen as Thea pulled the notebook over to finish the homework.

"You're such a pushover." Jude laughed.

"No I'm not. I just can't handle her moaning any longer." Thea said, "She's been doing these sums for an hour." She shook her head.

"She's eight." Jude reminded her.

"Still. I don't know how much has the patience with her." Thea said as Jude laughed to herself, "Where were you anyway?"

"Just out with some friends." Jude nodded.

"You've been out with your friends a lot recently." Thea said suspiciously, "I didn't even know you had friends."

"You're funny." Jude nodded sarcastically.

"Obviously you'd tell me if you were seeing a boy, right?" Thea smiled as Jude scoffed.

"I'm not sure I would but it doesn't matter anyway because I'm not." Jude laughed to herself as Thea just nodded.

"Really?" Thea smirked.

"Yes. Really." Jude nodded, "What is going on with you?"

"Oh, come on." Thea laughed, "I know you've been taking my birth control. Next month's box has been opened." She scoffed as Jude shook her head.

"No, I really haven't." Jude said with confusion as Thea looked at her.

"You don't have to be ashamed." Thea laughed.

"I really haven't been taking it." Jude nodded truthfully as Thea looked at her with confusion.

"Well…" Thea shook her head, "Someone has." She looked at her.

"Ew." Jude suddenly realised as Thea raised her eyebrows.

"That little bitch." Thea realised at the same time as Jude fake gagged, "Who the hell is she-" She suddenly paused, "Oh…" She raised her eyebrows.

"I hope dad doesn't find out. He'll be crushed." Jude shook her head as Thea raised a brow, "Don't be your usual bitchy self and tell him." She warned.

"I won't." Thea put her hands up. She knew fine well who her mother was seeing. It was rather obvious. But she wasn't going to tell Jude, in the case it got complicated. She was still shocked of course. Her parents hadn't been together in so long. It was hard to even imagine them getting back together again.

"Good for her, I guess." Jude shrugged.

"It's a sad day when your mom needs your birth control more than you do." Thea groaned, sitting the pencil down and folding her arms as Jude looked at her.

"Who's the nice guy you hang around with at your meetings?" Jude asked.

"He's a friend." Thea made clear.

"He's a hot friend." Jude wiggled her eyebrows.

"Yeah, ok." Thea shook her head, "Damn, I really thought it was you taking my birth control. I thought I was gonna get some gossip." She smirked as Jude shook her head.

"No." Jude laughed whilst Thea finished off Cassie's homework, "So… Jackson's been out for a week now and he's not came near you."

"Yeah." Thea nodded.

"That's a good sign." Jude said as Thea nodded.

"Yeah, it is. His sentencing is in a few weeks. Sooner that comes the better." Thea said.

"How do you know?" Jude asked.

"Uncle Dean found out and told dad. Dad told me." Thea said as Jude nodded.

"You've been talking to dad quite a lot recently." Jude noticed.

"Yeah, here and there." Thea said vaguely as Jude nodded, "I really thought I wanted to see Jackson. See him and ask him why." She nodded, looking across at her, "But now I just want him gone. Out of my life."

"I don't think he can give you any sort of answer that makes up for what he did to you." Jude said, "I'm glad he's gone. God knows what would have happened if you stayed with him. If he would have… hurt you or… I don't know." Jude shook her head.

"Yeah, I know." Thea said, "It's just still sinking in for me. Everything he did." She shook her head.

"Well yeah… you were with him for a long time. I mean there was a time you spent more time with him than you did me or… mom." Jude nodded, "And I thought he was a nice person. A good person."

"That's the thing… he was." Thea shook her head.

"Obviously not deep down." Jude said, "Better off without him. You deserve better. After everything you've been through." She nodded as Thea smiled softly.

"I'm actually enjoying the single life right now." Thea said.

"You're avoiding the married men, right?" Jude nodded.

"That's not funny." Thea scoffed.

"You're right. It's not." Jude agreed with a laugh, "How'd you even end up going home with a married guy twice your age. You have to be insane."

"I was drunk." Thea shrugged.

"So you don't even remember it?" Jude asked.

"Well… yeah, I remember it a little." Thea shrugged, "It was good sex."

"I hate you." Jude nodded.

"What?" Thea laughed.

"God forbid you get married one day and your husband cheats on you." Jude shook her head.

"Our father is Phil Brooks. No one is cheating on us." Thea assured her.

"Why do you say it like that?" Jude laughed.

"Like what?" Thea shook her head.

"Like people are scared of him." Jude said.

"Well… they are." Thea nodded, "Everyone around here knows his name." She shrugged, "Knows who he is, what he's done."

"Yeah, well he's moved on." Jude said defensively.

"I know but… he still did those things. I'm not even talking about the past eight years, I'm talking about the first time he went to prison too." Thea said.

"That was messy." Jude remembered her mother telling her about it all.

"Yeah." Thea nodded in agreement.

"Do you really blame him?" Jude asked.

"For what?" Thea said.

"For… the drink and the drugs?" Jude asked her as Thea looked down.

"I… I don't know." Thea said, "I'm still working through it." She admitted, "He didn't pass me the bottle or the drugs. Some days I know I did it to myself and other days I… I can't help but think… what if he was here? Would I have still done it?" She questioned.

"If you knew it was so bad for you, why did you keep doing it?" Jude asked, "I mean you… you were really sick at one point." She nodded.

"Yeah." Thea nodded, "Yeah, I know I was." She said, "I don't think I cared. That was the issue. I just… I wanted to be high all the time." She nodded, "It's hard to explain it really." She said.

"It was really scary seeing you like that." Jude nodded as Thea looked at her.

"Yeah, I… I bet." Thea nodded, "I'm sorry. Now that you're actually talking to me again, I am really sorry for your birthday party. For ruining it." She said.

"It's ok." Jude said.

"No, it's not. It wasn't ok." Thea said, "I was… I was being selfish and it was supposed to be your day-"

"I'll have other birthday's, it's fine." Jude nodded, "I'm just glad you're doing better now."

"Me too." Thea smiled.

"Do you still want it?" Jude asked, "The alcohol?"

"Dude, I'm sitting here right now and I could down a full bottle of wine." Thea said honestly, "It's there every day." She nodded, "But what I've learned from my meetings is that… I'm in control. I make the decisions. It's not something that I'm gonna let take over me again." She nodded.

"Sounds like these meetings are actually working." Jude nodded, "I thought you only went for your hot friend."

"Funny." Thea said sarcastically.

"C'mon, you really don't think he's hot?" Jude asked.

"Oh, of course he is." Thea scoffed as Jude nodded, "But his friendship is… it's important to me right now." She said as Jude nodded.

"Yeah, I bet." Jude nodded, finishing her dinner off, "Ok, I'm gonna go do my own homework." She stood up, clearing her plate away and washing it.

"Ok, check on Cassie and make sure she's not watching American Pie like last time we left her in the living room herself." Thea shook her head as Jude laughed.

"Ok." Jude nodded, heading for the door as Thea finished the rest of Cassie's homework, "I think you'd be a good doctor." She said as Thea looked up, smiling as she watched Jude leave the kitchen.


	82. Dinner

**Dinner**

* * *

"Hey, I thought you were standing me up." Punk smiled, opening the door to his apartment where AJ finally arrived.

"I'm really sorry. I got caught up at the office." AJ shook her head, walking into the apartment, "And my phone died." She said stressfully.

"It's ok. Don't worry about it." Punk nodded calmly as she smiled, "So you're still an important person at work?" He teased.

"Yeah, I guess so." AJ nodded, following him through to the kitchen as she began unbuttoning her coat, "I run a whole department now."

"Really?" Punk turned to her as she nodded.

"Yeah." AJ smiled, "How'd you think I pay for all these fancy coats?" She exaggerated as Punk smiled, leading into the kitchen as AJ followed, pausing when she saw the dinner table set with some flowers in the middle and some candles.

"So I made your favourite." Punk said, walking over to check on the dinner which was still cooking as AJ inspected the dinner table with a smile.

"This is sweet." AJ smiled, sitting her coat over, "What's my favourite?" She asked curiously.

"Chicken pot pie." Punk said, "Come see." He nodded.

"I didn't know you could cook." AJ said, walking over and taking a look, "That looks good." She nodded, impressed, "Smells even better."

"Yeah?" Punk smiled proudly as she nodded.

"Yeah. I don't remember you ever making me this before." AJ said, walking back over to the table and taking a seat.

"Well that's the thing. When you're in prison for eight years, it's not the big things you start missing or wishing you did. It's the little things. Making more dinners for your wife." He nodded to himself as AJ looked over.

"Well I can't wait to try it." She smiled. She appreciated the effort. It was romantic and it was just the exact reason she loved him. This was the things she dreamed of whilst he was gone. The things she missed so much. Just getting to sit and talk to him.

"You got a drink?" Punk asked her, sitting down the plates.

"No, I don't." She said as he grabbed water from the fridge for them and took a seat, "This is exactly what I need after ten hours at the office." AJ nodded to herself as Punk smiled.

They were hoping to just have a nice dinner and chat. After AJ realised she simply couldn't move on from him, she was working on letting him back in, little by little.

"Well go on. Tell me how it is." Punk nodded as she smiled, trying the pie and nodding to herself.

"That's not bad at all." She nodded as he smiled, "Cassie would like this."

"She does. I've made it for her. And Jude." Punk nodded.

"Oh, so I'm late in trying this? I see how it is." AJ teased as Punk smiled. He could just sense she was so much more relaxed after she got it off her chest that she was scared of letting him in again. It was out there now and all he could do was prove to her and show her, restore faith in her that he wasn't leaving.

"Cassie had seconds." Punk nodded.

"Yeah, she always does." AJ said.

"Where are they right now?" Punk asked her.

"They're at the house." AJ said, "The upside of having an older daughter. No need for a babysitter." She shrugged, "But I… I didn't tell Thea I was coming here. I just said that I was working late." She nodded, "I just think we should keep them out of it for now."

"Yeah, I agree." Punk nodded, "How has Thea been? I know that's been a week since Jackson's been out."

"She's ok." AJ nodded, "She's going about her normal day. Not letting it get to her." She said, "The sooner the sentencing comes, the better."

"Few more weeks." Punk nodded, "She still going to her meetings?"

"Yeah every Thursday." AJ said, "I'm so glad it's helping her. Because I… to be honest, I'd given up hope in anything." She nodded, "But I think she likes hearing other people talk about their struggles."

"Of course. Best way to not feel alone is to relate to people." Punk nodded, "I'm super glad it's helping her."

"She's opening up to you a lot more." AJ said, "I noticed."

"Yeah. Yeah, after that whole thing with Jackson she seems to actually acknowledge me." He nodded as she smiled, "And she's came down to the docks a few times to speak to me. I'm just letting her go with it. Any conversation she wants to have I'll take it." He said.

"She's just very stubborn." AJ nodded, "All three of them are actually." She said as he smiled.

"How'd you manage to run a department at your work and raise them on your own?" Punk wondered. It was inspiring just how strong and unstoppable she was.

"Well I had help of course." AJ said, "When Cass was born I cut down to a few days. Having a baby, a young kid and a teenager was… challenging." AJ nodded to herself. She knew with this dinner, would come a lot of opening up to him. Not so much about the kids but about her, and her struggles. She was preparing for that.

"Yeah, I can only imagine." He shook his head.

"I just felt like I was running around circles all day. Like I didn't have a life of my own anymore." She said, "And I think that sounds so selfish but… we always had our date nights and… at the end of every day we got to sit on the couch and have a donut, watch some TV." She smiled, "Going from that to just collapsing in my bed at 8pm every night." She shook her head, "It was a big change."

"Would have killed to be with you." Punk nodded as she looked across at him, "It's all I wanted."

"Yeah, me too." AJ said, "I think for the first year I was just in shock that you weren't there. I remember it hitting me when Cassie walked for the first time. I looked around and… no one was there to hug or celebrate with." She shook her head, "Cried myself to sleep that night." She nodded to herself as he sighed.

"Never got easier." Punk agreed, "Every night I would just lay in bed and wonder what you were doing. I think the thing that hurt me the most was that… I knew you weren't happy." He shook his head.

"Yeah but I was in my home at the end of the day. I got to see our kids. I had my freedom. You didn't." AJ reminded him. She would always give herself credit for how much she overcame and how much strength she had to have to get through the past eight years, but she also knew that he had equally had an awful time.

"I… I got lucky with a decent cell mate." Punk nodded, trying to think of at least one positive, "He was older. Crazy, of course, but he'd listen to me ramble on about nonsense. Tried getting me to pray but… that was never gonna happen." He said as she laughed a little.

"I can imagine your reaction to that." AJ smiled as he nodded, "What was he in prison for?" She asked.

"Same thing as me basically. Drugs related." Punk said as she nodded, "He had a few more years to do before he was getting out."

"I just couldn't imagine being so shut off from the world for that long." AJ said.

"Wasn't easy." Punk nodded, "When I got out I… I felt like an alien. Honestly, I still do." He said as she looked across at him.

"You're doing good. Getting a job and getting this place. That's moving forward." She nodded, "But I know that stuff can play as a distraction." She said, "No matter is going on with us, you can always talk to me." She made clear. She knew how difficult it had to have been for him to adapt to life after his years in prison. That wasn't something he had to explain.

"I know." Punk smiled as she nodded, "So what are you doing in your job now? Are you still writing?"

"Not as much as I'd like to honestly." AJ said, "It's a lot more meetings and conferences but… ultimately that's more money so… I grudge complaining." She smirked as he nodded.

"Yeah, money isn't something you and I take lightly." He nodded.

"No, it's not." AJ agreed, "I've gotten to go back to full-time again over the past few years. With Thea and Jude more grown up, they can look after Cassie if need be." AJ nodded, "I did lose a lot of time when Thea was in hospital but… everyone in the office was super understanding." She said.

"Yeah, I'd hope so." Punk nodded, "How long was she in hospital for?"

"She was in for a week and then I took a couple weeks off after to be there for her at home and what not." AJ said, "She had really bad tremors so I had to help her with a lot of things. And she needed people around her." She nodded, "After she got a little better I took them on vacation. That seemed to help her a little." AJ nodded.

"She's lucky she has you." Punk nodded.

"Yeah well she's my daughter. I just wanted her to be healthy. And happy." AJ nodded, "Because she wasn't for such a long time."

If there was one thing that was very clear to him, it was how little his wife appeared to have lived for herself these past eight years. And also how lonely she appeared to have been, just like him.

"You didn't ever think of… seeing other people, did you?" He asked.

"I did." AJ said, "I did see other people." She nodded. She could only be honest with him about that, "Honestly… I was as thrilled about it as you look right now." She nodded, "I just wanted sex." She said truthfully as he looked across at her, "Problem was… I'd only ever been with you my entire life." She said, "Felt like a virgin." She scoffed as he laughed a little.

"So you dated?" Punk asked her.

"Yeah a little." AJ nodded, "Of course it was after we had that fight." She made clear, "And I stopped visiting you." She said as he nodded, figuring, "Nothing lasted. Nothing felt right. Went on a few dates… but it was obvious that it wasn't going anywhere." She shrugged as he nodded, "Do you want me to stop talking about it?" She smiled a little. Obviously he didn't enjoy knowing she'd seen other people.

"No… no, it's fine." He laughed a little as she looked across at him.

"If it helps… none of them compared to you." She smiled as he looked across at her with an edgy smirk which she enjoyed.

"How many guys we talking about here?" He joked as she smiled.

"Just a few." AJ nodded, "You still like working at the docks?"

"Yeah, it's a lot of fun actually." Punk nodded, further talking about it.

It was nice just to sit down and talk. Whether it got emotional and deep, or they were talking about every day things. Just to have that option again to be able to vent to him or tell him things, it was important to her, and she really did miss this.

* * *

"Can you please go to bed." Thea nodded, standing in the hallway upstairs with Cassie who was in her pyjamas and objecting to bedtime, "It's already way past your bedtime."

"Mom isn't home yet so you should let me stay up later." Cassie said.

"That's not how this works." Thea shook her head.

"Don't be mean to me." Cassie shook her head, taking Thea's hands and shaking them.

"You have way too much energy." Thea scoffed.

"Let me stay up longer." Cassie jumped up and down.

"It's already late enough." Thea said whilst Jude walked upstairs.

"Jude!" Cassie called, "Tell Thea to let me stay up later." Cassie put her hands on her hips as Jude looked over.

"Don't be lame. Let her stay up." Jude shook her head as Thea rolled her eyes.

"Fine." Thea shook her head, "Go… go into mom's room and watch a movie." She nodded as Cassie smirked and ran away into AJ's bedroom.

"You gonna send me to bed too?" Jude teased as Thea rolled her eyes.

"Shut up." Thea scoffed as Jude chuckled, walking off into her bedroom and closing the door.

Thea picked up on a knock at the door and headed downstairs, walking on over and opening up the door casually, pausing suddenly when she saw who it was.

"Hey." Jackson looked across at her as Thea gulped.


	83. Awful

**Awful**

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Thea questioned, keeping the door almost fully shut as she looked at him through the gap.

"I wanted to see you." Jackson said as Thea looked at him, "My lawyer told me not to come near you but… I have to talk to you-"

"You've done enough." Thea whispered.

"Can you… let me in?" Jackson questioned.

"No." Thea shook her head, "Do you think I want you anywhere near me after what you did?" She batted her eyes at him, "You beat me." She reminded him, "You… kidnapped me and tried to make me relapse." She said, "How could you do that?" She questioned as Jackson shook his head.

"I-I don't know." Jackson shook his head, "I… I barely remember any of it. I was so out of it. And I missed you-"

"You missed me?" Thea asked in horror, "So you… you thought that was the best way to show me you missed me?" She asked.

"No." Jackson shook his head, "No, I just… I was messed up. I've been messed up. I don't even remember what I said or what I did to you." He said, "I hate myself as much as you hate me right now-"

"You can't say anything to help yourself in any of this. Not even telling me you don't remember it will help." She shook her head, "I have to live with what you did to me. Someone I thought would never, ever hurt me." She said, opening the door a little wider as she grew more confident, "Someone I trusted and loved." She spat.

"This doesn't reflect on how I feel about you. I love you-"

"No." Thea shook her head, "No, you'd never do that to someone you love." She made clear, "You just love the idea of me. Being there just to be there. Someone you can control and manipulate-"

"I never manipulated you or controlled you." Jackson shook his head.

"You did. Maybe not to a worry extent but you did. And I let you because underneath that, you were still my best friend and someone I really loved." She said, "And it seems like all you've done the past few months is hurt me." She shook her head.

"I've not been myself." Jackson shook his head.

"Bullshit." Thea glared at him, "Because of you, I don't feel like I'll ever trust someone again." She shook her head truthfully.

"Please just…" He stepped into the house as Thea raised her eyebrows, backing up immediately, "If anyone knows how fucked up it feels to be… so high you can't even remember shit… it's you-"

"Is that supposed to make me feel good?" Thea narrowed her brows at him, "Even when I was at my worst. My very worst, the last thing I ever thought of was hurting anyone I loved. In fact, I avoided everyone because I didn't even want them to see me like that." She said, "I didn't beat anyone or pull anyone down with me. That stuff shows true character."

"You think that was the real me?" Jackson questioned, closing the door over behind him.

"I don't know what the real you is. I thought I did but… I don't recognise you after what you did." She shook her head, "And finding out what you did to my dad, putting him in prison, taking him away from me, from his family? Because why? What benefit did you really get out of doing that?" Thea shook her head.

"He's a bad person, Thea." Jackson nodded, "You said it yourself, it's only gonna be a matter of time before he's back in prison again. People like him, that's what their life is, a vicious circle of mistakes and bad decisions. I recognised that and I didn't want you to suffer through that-"

"No, you took my dad away from me." Thea said with teary eyes, "I was a little girl. I was confused and scared and I wanted my dad." She stared at him, "And I cried to you about it, and all along… it was you who did it." She shook her head.

"I was trying to protect you." Jackson said.

"Please, you barely even knew me then." Thea shook her head.

"I knew that he was putting you in danger, Thea." Jackson said as she shook her head.

"You knew nothing." Thea spat.

"How did you expect me to feel? I mean you broke it off with me and stopped talking to me-"

"Because I needed space and I wanted time on my own." Thea said, "You saw how bad it was for me, when I was on cocaine, how sick I got and how much I suffered. If anyone had a front row seat it was you." She said, "And you wanted to put all that pain back on me." Thea said, walking towards him, "You're a terrible, awful person. And I will never, ever forgive you for what you did." She hissed as Jackson looked at her, cracking his neck from side to side.

"Thea, Cassie has fallen asleep. Should I-" Jude paused as she got to the bottom of the stairs, looking on at Jackson standing with Thea, "Thea." Jude said with concern, rushing down the rest of the stairs.

"Hi, Jude." Jackson nodded as Jude stared at him.

"Thea, what's going on?" Jude asked, taking her sister's hand and pulling her back from Jackson, "Get out of our house." Jude spat.

"No, I don't think so." Jackson shook his head as Thea glared at him, "In fact, I invited some friends over." He nodded as Thea looked at him with worry and anxiety.

"Jude, go upstairs and lock yourself in your room." Thea pushed her.

"What? No." Jude hissed, "Just get out of our house." She spat as Jackson glared at her, stepping closer to Jude as Thea got in between them.

"Touch her and I will kill you." Thea said seriously as Jackson looked at her.

"Oh, really?" Jackson tested.

"Jude, go upstairs now." Thea said as Jude stumbled up the stairs, rushing away to her room and immediately grabbing her phone, locking her bedroom door behind her.

"Don't worry, it's friends you know." Jackson nodded.

"There's something seriously wrong with you." Thea spat. She no longer looked at him the same. It was like he was a completely different person. Completely different. It really was like a stranger standing in front of her, which was terrifying.

"The same friends you slept with for drugs a few years ago." Jackson nodded as Thea looked at him, suddenly feeling him wrap his hand around her throat, banging her against the wall as Thea winced, "Bet you thought I'd never find out about that, huh?"

"We were broken up." Thea choked, trying to get his hand off of her throat.

"You know, I think you really need to reassess who the problem is in this relationship." Jackson said, "You cheat. You lie. You manipulate." Jackson said, "Maybe you are what you hate. Not me." He nodded as Thea glared at him.

"I never hurt you." Thea gasped, "We had broken up-"

"You still belong to me." Jackson banged her head against the wall as Thea looked at him. At first, she really thought he'd come to apologise, in some way, not that she really bought his apology anyway.

"I am not a possession." Thea spat, kicking him in the crotch as he let go of her throat and doubled over, groaning painfully as Thea looked at him, massaging her throat.

She immediately began to run for the stairs, only managing to get up a few before he grabbed her ankles, pulling her back down the stairs, dragging her into the living room by the hair.

* * *

"When you said desert, I thought you meant ice-cream." AJ said, rolling off of Punk in his bed, collapsing beside him as he chuckled, running his hand through his slicked hair, a layer of sweat covering both their naked bodies.

"Well… I got ice-cream if you want it." Punk turned to her as she smiled, shaking her head and shoving him as he smiled. This was his happy place. This was his home. It was never a place. It was her. To be close to her again wasn't something he took lightly at all.

"I should probably get home actually." AJ shook her head.

"Or you could stay a little while longer." Punk smiled, rolling over on top of her as she smiled, wrapping her legs around him, "I mean… give me fifteen minutes and we can do this all over again." He nodded, kissing her neck and nudging her chin as she smiled at the warm feeling.

"It's tempting." She said with a smile, cupping the back of his head, "But I should get home." She whispered as he nodded.

"Ok." He agreed, kissing her passionately as she kissed back.

"You have no idea how much I've missed this." She told him.

"I think we both have a mutual understanding about how much we've missed this." Punk said, kissing her again as she melted into the kiss. She was in complete bliss like this. All she ever wanted for eight years was to have him in her life like this again. So close and personal.

"Ok, you gotta stop kissing me." She smiled.

"It's so difficult, though." Punk frowned as she chuckled, feeling him roll off of her and collapse back down on his side of the bed.

"I'm gonna go clean up." AJ told him, getting up from the bed as he watched her with a smile, staring as she got her clothes and walked to the bathroom, smirking to him infamously over her shoulder on the way there as he chuckled.

He lay in bed, running his hands through his hair and taking a relaxing sigh. He felt at peace for once. All felt calm again.

He got up from the bed, putting his boxer shorts on and walking out of the bedroom, heading back to the kitchen where they had abandoned their dinner earlier on and headed to the bedroom. The chemistry was of course still there, perhaps even more so after the years of absence from each other.

He got a bottle of water from the fridge, downing it as he looked over at his phone which was charging on the kitchen counter, clicking the home button to initially check the time when he noticed he had sixteen missed calls from Jude.

He immediately sat the water down, "Shit." Punk immediately got a horrible feeling in his stomach, "Shit… fucking hell." He immediately began to call Jude back, running into the bedroom and grabbing his clothes, "Come on, come on, pick up." Punk said frantically as AJ walked out of the bathroom with her clothes back on.

"What's wrong?" AJ asked worriedly.

"I have like… sixteen missed calls from Jude." Punk said as AJ raised her eyebrows.

"What?" She shook her head.

"And she's not picking back up." Punk said, getting fully dressed.

"Oh my God." AJ said frantically, "We have to go." She said as he nodded, rushing out of the room with her as they quickly left the apartment.


	84. News

**News**

* * *

"Hey, what's going on?" Punk asked, running towards the door of the house where Dean was.

"I got a call from Jude saying Jackson was in the house." Dean said, "The door is locked, I can't get in."

"Oh my God." AJ placed her hand over her mouth with fear.

Punk began kicking at the door as did Dean, booting the handle hard.

"Come on!" Punk yelled angrily, stomping at the door whilst AJ looked through her purse.

"I think I might have a spare key, I don't know." She crouched down, emptying everything out of her purse onto the ground, scattering everything around to get a better look, "Yes! Here." AJ said, "Here." She passed the key to Punk.

Punk quickly unlocked the door, turning it and bursting it open, getting stopped by the chain that was on the door, "Fucking hell!" Punk yelled angrily, standing back and booting the door open as the chain broke off, the door banging open as he stormed into the house with Dean.

Punk walked into the living room, pausing when he saw Jackson and a few other guys, Dean following in behind him.

"Nah, fuck this." Dean shook his head, throwing a punch to one of the guys as Punk followed suit, going straight for Jackson, launching himself over the living room.

Meanwhile AJ ran upstairs, rushing into Thea's bedroom where she was nowhere to be seen. She then headed into Jude's where she also wasn't anywhere to be seen.

She finally ran to her own bedroom, trying to open the door when she realised it was locked, "Girls." AJ knocked at the door, "It's me." She said, listening to the door immediately unlock as she rushed into the room.

"Oh, thank God." AJ took a deep breath once she saw all three of them, safe and well, "Thank God." She grabbed Thea and Jude, squeezing them tightly, kissing their heads as Thea closed her eyes, taking a deep breath of relief.

"Mom, you're back." Cassie smiled, lying in the bed where she had been watching her movie.

"I am." AJ nodded, "Are you ok?" She asked Cassie who nodded, unbothered by the events of the night, "Are you two ok?" She asked Thea and Jude who nodded.

"What's going on down there?" Thea asked, hearing loud noise coming from downstairs.

"I don't know." AJ said, "Just… stay in this room, lock it when I leave." She told them, leaving the bedroom, closing the door behind her as she rushed back downstairs.

She walked into the living room where she saw Dean and Punk fighting with guys she didn't even know.

Dean grabbed two of them by the necks after beating down on them, dragging them out of the house and tossing them into the streets as AJ watched. She knew her husband and brother-in-law could be dangerous people if put to the test. She wasn't jumping into stop them in this case. Not when it was her daughter's protection on the line.

Punk took the last remaining guy, throwing him out of the house bruised and beaten like the others, leaving Jackson on his own.

"Get him up." Punk told Dean who grabbed Jackson, sitting him up on the couch.

"Phil, don't." AJ shook her head as Punk looked at Jackson.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Punk spat, grabbing the boy's face angrily.

"She wants to be with me." Jackson nodded as Punk grabbed him more aggressively.

"No, she doesn't." Punk spat, "She doesn't wanna be with someone who will abuse her and manipulate her like you have. Who will use her weaknesses against her. You sick little prick." Punk spat as Dean and AJ watched.

"Who were those guys?" Dean questioned.

"Just some friends." Jackson nodded, "Thea used to sleep with them for drugs." He nodded as AJ looked over, watching Punk's face turning redder and redder.

AJ walked over, pushing Punk out of the way and standing in front of Jackson.

"You listen to me." AJ made clear, grabbing him around the throat whilst Punk and Dean stood behind, "I don't know what the hell is wrong with you, but you should not have come here tonight." She said, "You leave my daughter alone. You've caused her enough pain. How dare you spend so much time with her through the years and treat her this way." AJ spat as Jackson looked at her, "You're gonna rot in prison." She nodded, throwing his face back and stepping aside as Punk punched him hard across the face.

"Prick." Dean spat.

"Look at me." Punk grabbed Jackson's face, "I am warning you. Stay away from Thea. Stay away from this house and this family." He spat.

"Why are you doing this?" AJ questioned. She couldn't figure out for the life of her what this sudden vile behaviour was for. Why he was saying and doing such terrible things to Thea after knowing her for so long, and supposedly caring about her.

"I care about Thea." Jackson nodded, "I do."

"No you don't." Punk spat, "No you fucking don't. Not in any way. If you cared about her you'd never hurt her." He hissed.

"She's not an angel like you all think." Jackson shook his head, "She lies. Cheats. Manipulates." He nodded, "She is her father's daughter." He nodded as Punk glared at him.

"Shut your mouth." Punk spat whilst AJ left the living room.

She headed back upstairs, leaving Dean and Punk to deal with Jackson, going back into her bedroom where Thea unlocked the door and let her back in.

"What's happening?" Thea asked curiously.

"Your dad and Dean are just… they're getting Jackson out of here." AJ nodded, "What did he do? Are you both ok?" She asked Thea and Jude.

"I'm fine." Jude nodded whilst Thea nodded along.

"Yeah, we're fine." Thea said.

"What happened? What did he do?" AJ asked.

"He came in and he was apologising at first." Thea explained, "Saying he couldn't even remember what he did because he was so out his face. Then he just snapped. Saying I'm the one who is the problem. Then he invited these guys over and… I got involved with them a few years ago. They're bad guys-"

"Ok, shhh." AJ soothed whilst Jude sat down on the bed, "It's ok." AJ nodded, cupping Thea's cheeks, "They're gone. They're all gone, ok?" She nodded, wrapping her arms around Thea, hugging her tightly.

"What is dad and uncle Dean doing down there?" Jude asked curiously.

"They're just talking to him." AJ nodded, "Getting rid of him." She nodded whilst continuing to hug Thea who didn't want to let go.

"Are they hurting him?" Jude assumed as AJ looked at her, giving her a certain look, not wanting to upset Thea any more than she already was.

"As long as you're both ok." AJ nodded. That was all that ever mattered. As long as her girls were all ok, that was the main priority.

Meanwhile downstairs, Punk and Dean were taking turns of the occasional punch to Jackson's face, as well as spitting back at any nonsense he had to say.

"What do we do?" Dean asked Punk, "Call the cops?"

"No. No he can go when we're done." Punk said as Dean nodded.

"He's got a few screw loose, for sure." Dean shook his head.

"I can hear you." Jackson nodded.

"Good." Dean spat as Punk looked over.

"She's got you all wrapped around her little finger." Jackson nodded to himself, "Centre of attention as always."

"No, she has people who love her and care about her." Punk corrected, "Who want to help her. That's what family does."

"She'll be back on the coke again soon enough." Jackson nodded to himself, "She's a lot more fun that way actually."

"You're a fucking terrible human being." Dean spat with disgust.

"Coming from you two?" Jackson screwed his face up, "Forgive me if I don't take that much offence."

"Well you should." Punk spat.

"How does it feel?" Jackson smiled, "How does it feel knowing that when you left, I took over." He smirked, "Your daughter started calling me daddy."

"Alright." Punk grabbed him by the ears, pulling him from the couch, "If I wasn't trying to be a better person, I'd be leaving you in a pile of your own blood right now." Punk spat, dragging Jackson out of the house and throwing him out into the street as he fell over onto the sidewalk.

"Damn my lawyer is gonna be mad." Jackson nodded, wiping his bloody lip.

"Just stay the fuck away. Do you understand me?" Punk said, "You have done enough." He shook his head. He was angry and he was hurt that this boy was causing so much pain to his daughter, as if she hadn't dealt with enough over the years, "Stay away."

"Yeah well… might be a little hard." Jackson nodded, getting to his feet, "Thea's pregnant." He said as Punk looked at him, "With my kid."

"Don't fucking lie to me." Punk shook his head frantically.

"I'm not." Jackson chuckled, "She told me." He nodded, "But what use I will be? I'm off to prison soon." He nodded as Punk stared at him, "You and your wife really did pass on quite the curse to her, didn't you?" He nodded as Punk stared at him.

"You're lying." Punk nodded as Jackson rolled her eyes.

"You can go ask her yourself." Jackson nodded as Punk looked at him, "And to answer April's question. Why I did this?" He said, "Did it for my dad." He nodded as Punk stared at him.

"What?" Punk shook his head, watching as Jackson walked off down the street.

Not understanding what Jackson meant, Punk shook his head, turning back to the house and running his hand over his face. He felt the colour draining from him with disbelief.


	85. Lie

**Lie**

* * *

"Are you both ok?" Punk asked, walking back into the house where he saw Thea and Jude had come downstairs with AJ. He gave both of them a hug at the same time, their chins resting on each of his shoulders.

"Yeah, we're fine." Thea nodded, pulling back from the hug whilst Jude held on a little longer, "What did you do?"

"I… I put him and his friends out the house." Punk nodded, "He can't go to the cops because then they'll find out he was here and that means he goes to jail."

"So why don't we just call the cops?" Jude asked.

"Well I'm still on probation and… I left a few bruises on him." Punk said as Jude looked at him.

"So much for thinking before you act." Jude said, ripping away from the hug and walking upstairs.

"Jude." Punk sighed as he watched her head back upstairs, turning to AJ who just gave him a reassuring nod, "Did he hurt you? Are you ok?" He asked Thea.

"I'm fine." Thea nodded, "He just snapped again. He was actually apologising to me. I didn't buy it but he was saying he hated himself for what he did, and he's sorry, and then he just snapped and… those other guys came-"

"I know." Punk nodded.

"I managed to get upstairs. I grabbed Jude from her room and we locked ourselves in mom's bedroom with Cassie." Thea said as Punk nodded.

"That was smart." AJ nodded, rubbing Thea's arm softly whilst Punk looked at her.

"I'm gonna take off." Dean announced, walking over and giving Thea a hug, "I'm sorry you have to deal with this shit." He told his niece, kissing her head.

"Thanks for that." Punk patted Dean on the back as Dean nodded, saying goodbye to them and leaving the house.

"You sure you're not hurt?" AJ asked Thea, "You can tell us."

"I'm fine." Thea nodded, "I just want him to go to prison now."

"You and me both." AJ shook her head whilst Punk continued to stare at Thea.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Thea questioned, folding her arms.

"S-Sorry." Punk shook his head, "Uh… for now I think you gotta be around people at all times. We shouldn't have left you in the house yourself."

"So you two were with each other?" Thea raised a brow.

"What? No." AJ scoffed, turning to Punk who also shook his head, "I was… I was at work and your dad called me." She said, "My phone is dead."

"Yeah well… maybe we keep our phones fully charged right now." Thea said as AJ nodded, feeling a little guilty.

"You just gotta be around people at all times for the next few weeks until his sentencing." Punk nodded, "So either with me or your mom. Dean. Any friends you have."

"If he's gonna come see me, he's gonna come see me." Thea shook her head, "He's like that."

"Yeah, I know." Punk nodded.

"Babe, why don't you go get some sleep." AJ nodded, "It's been a long night."

"Yeah, I might." Thea agreed, turning around and walking upstairs as Punk watched her.

"I need a coffee." AJ shook her head, walking off to the kitchen as Punk followed her, "How can someone stoop so low?" She questioned, taking out two mugs to make them coffee.

"He's… he's a bad one." Punk nodded, "Wormed his way into her life when she needed someone and now what? He's just decided that he doesn't care about her?"

"That's what it looks like. Yeah." AJ nodded, turning around to him, "He shouldn't have been allowed out of jail. I think this was prime example of that. I feel like I can't leave the girls on their own anymore."

"It's just another few weeks." Punk nodded, "Hey, have you… have you noticed anything different about Thea lately?" He asked as AJ looked across at him.

"Like what?" AJ questioned.

"I don't know." Punk shook his head as AJ looked at him.

"What changes?" AJ raised a brow as Punk looked at her, "Phil?" AJ waited.

"She's pregnant." He said as AJ looked across at him.

"What?" AJ shook her head, "No, she isn't."

"Yeah, she is." Punk nodded, "And it's… it's his." He groaned, "He just told me." He nodded as AJ looked at him in shock.

"Oh my God." AJ placed her hand over her mouth, "Oh God." She shook her head as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, I feel the same." Punk assured her with a sigh.

"She's pregnant?" AJ questioned, "We're gonna be… grandparents?" She gulped as Punk widened his eyes, "Shit."

"I feel eighty." Punk said, rubbing his forehead as AJ stood with shock.

"Oh, but there's gonna be a baby." AJ smiled a little as Punk looked at her and shook his head.

"April, I don't think… I don't think this is necessarily a good thing for Thea right now. She's still a kid." Punk shook his head.

"I was a kid." AJ reminded him.

"That was different." Punk shrugged.

"How is it different?" AJ scoffed.

"Well… this is my daughter. That's how it's different." Punk said, "And he's not gonna be in her life so she's… she's gonna be alone." He sighed to himself.

"Alone? What are we?" AJ asked, "She's got an entire family."

"You know what I mean." Punk said.

"Since when do women need men to raise a child?" AJ questioned.

"I'm not saying that." Punk said, "I just don't think this is what Thea would want right now. She's at college-"

"I went to college-"

"April." Punk shook his head, "She's not you." He reminded her as AJ looked at him, "You grew up in chaos. You were used to hard times and dealing with shit-"

"Be careful with your words right now." AJ narrowed her eyes at him.

"My point being, you were probably prepared. Thea… I don't know." He shook his head as she looked at him. She knew what he was trying to say, and she understood his concern as her father.

"How dare we stand here and talk about this without her even being here." AJ shook her head, "This is not our situation to handle, Phil." She made clear as Punk looked at her.

"She's got her whole life ahead of her." Punk shook his head as AJ looked at him, "I mean do you really want her to go through what we did? How much we struggled when she was a baby? How little we knew about everything?" He asked as AJ folded her arms.

"Of course I don't, but like I said, this is really none of our business. It's her decision. Whatever she wants to do, I'll support her. And you should too." AJ advised.

"I just can't believe it." Punk shook his head, "As if that fucker hasn't done enough. I mean this means he's always gonna have a connection to her. When he gets out of prison he could come looking for her. And I don't want him anywhere near her. He's fucking dangerous and you know it."

"Go call her down." AJ nodded.

"What?" Punk shook his head.

"Well she needs to talk about this to someone." AJ said, "They've been broken up for a few months now, which means she's probably far along, which means-"

"Yeah, I know." Punk nodded, knowing what she was saying, "I'll get her." He said, leaving the kitchen and heading upstairs as AJ stood in the kitchen, still not believing it.

She was in disbelief and shock. She could only give advice based on her own experience, but ultimately, it was Thea's decision and Thea's decision only.

"I was falling asleep." Thea grumbled, walking into the kitchen, following Punk, "What do you want?"

"We know." AJ said as Thea looked at them both.

"You know what?" She asked them, taking a seat at the table.

"You're pregnant." AJ nodded.

"Jackson told me." Punk said as Thea looked at them both.

"I'm not pregnant." Thea shook her head as they both looked at her.

"Thea." AJ sighed.

"No, really… I'm not." Thea assured them, "I just told him that so he wouldn't hurt me. Some girl at my meetings, she has an abusive boyfriend and she was telling a story about how she told him she was pregnant and it made him stop." She said, "I really didn't want anymore bruises on me so I just told him I was pregnant. It distracted him too, gave me a chance to run upstairs." She said as Punk and AJ looked at her.

"You're telling the truth?" Punk asked her.

"Yes." Thea said, "I'm not pregnant." She laughed a little, "Is that why you keep looking at me funny?" She asked Punk who groaned to himself.

"Thea, if you are… you can tell us. I know it's scary but-"

"I am not pregnant." Thea assured him, "Wow, you two are really freaking out right now, aren't you?" She noticed, a little amused, "I promise, I am not pregnant." She laughed.

"Hope you don't take this the wrong way but… I have never been more relieved in my entire life." Punk shook his head as Thea laughed a little.

"I haven't slept with that guy in months." She chuckled.

"Ok, I don't need to know the details." Punk assured her.

"You're sure?" AJ asked.

"I'm pretty sure." Thea shook her head.

"Ok." AJ nodded, taking a deep breath, "Ok, go… go back to bed." AJ nodded softly as Thea stood up.

"This was funny." Thea nodded to them both, leaving the kitchen as Punk shook his head.

"Can't say I'm not relieved." AJ nodded, "That could have been difficult."

"Yeah, no kidding." Punk shook his head, "I'm too young to be papa Punk just yet." He put his hands on his hips.

"Oh, that's sweet. I like that. Papa Punk." AJ nodded.

"I am still in my youth." Punk shook his head.

"Yeah, right." AJ scoffed as he smiled, "You're right, that's the last thing that she would need right now." She shook her head as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, definitely." Punk said, "But… I mean if she was… it would be entirely her decision." Punk nodded.

"Of course." AJ nodded, making them both coffee.

"He also said something weird." Punk recalled. The only thing he could think about that Jackson said was that Thea was pregnant, now knowing that wasn't true, he remembered him saying something else.

"What?" AJ questioned.

"That he did it for his dad." Punk shook his head as AJ looked across at him.

"His dad?" AJ shook her head, "I didn't think he knew his dad or spoke to him."

"Yeah, that's what he said." Punk shrugged, "Weird, huh?"

"Yeah, well he's messed up." AJ shook her head, both of them not thinking into it too much.

"I gotta talk to Jude in the morning." Punk sighed, "She has every right to be mad at me."

"I know but… what could you do?" AJ said, "She's just scared, that's all. And there's no harm in her wanting you to do better. It's a good thing, really." She said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, I know." Punk nodded, "I'll see her after school tomorrow and talk to her." He said as AJ nodded, sitting down and having her coffee with him.


	86. Together

**Together**

* * *

"I can't believe you thought I was pregnant." Thea chuckled, having breakfast the next morning.

"You what?" Jude looked up, staring over at AJ.

"Well that's what Jackson told your father." AJ shrugged.

"No." Thea laughed.

"You are the least maternal person I know. I'm sorry but the thought of you having a baby at any time, scares me." Jude nodded to Thea.

"Fucking scares me too." Thea laughed as AJ scoffed.

"Language." She sat some pancakes down for them whilst nudging the back of Thea's head, "Well I would like grandchildren at some point." She said.

"Well you can keep waiting, sister." Thea shook her head, taking a pancake.

"Why did he tell them you were pregnant?" Jude shook her head.

"Because I told him I was. Got him distracted and he let me go for a second." Thea shrugged, "Heard girls talking about it at my meetings before so… to avoid a broken eyebrow bone, I'd do anything." She nodded.

"You shouldn't have to be dealing with this." AJ sighed, "It's terrible. He's been in your life for so long, for it to end so… so viciously."

"I don't even recognise him." Thea shook her head, "He's just like a stranger at this point." She nodded, "And if I really was pregnant, and it was, I'd be throwing myself down the nearest set of stairs."

"Thea." AJ scolded as Jude shook her head. She had no filter, for sure.

"What?" Thea shrugged, "I want a nice kid with a nice dad. Not a devil baby." She shook her head.

"You've put it horrifically but I do agree." AJ nodded, "This was the last thing you need."

"Your faces last night." Thea chuckled to herself, "Surely there's scarier things in the world than be being pregnant."

"Maybe, not to your dad though." AJ scoffed, "Poor man could barely string a full sentence together." She said as Thea laughed whilst Jude said nothing, "Jude, I think he's gonna pick you up from school today."

"I don't need picked it up." Jude shook her head.

"Yes, right now you do." AJ said, "Thea, I'm taking you to college and your dad is also picking you up."

"What are we? 12?" Thea scoffed.

"Are you aware of what happened last night?" AJ asked. She didn't know if Thea was just blocking it all out or just living in denial, "That boy is dangerous. So you'll be taken to and from places. Either me, your dad or Dean will pick you up or take you. Just until he's sentenced and in prison." She made clear. She and Punk had both decided on that last night.

"Fine." Thea nodded, "Whatever."

"Hey, we'll get through this." She nodded to them both as they sat quietly.

"Mom! I can't find my bag." Cassie huffed, folding her arms and walking into the kitchen.

"You mean this bag?" AJ showed her the backpack sitting on the kitchen table.

"Yes that one." Cassie smiled with relief, "Oh, you made pancakes." Cassie noticed, sitting up beside Thea.

"You want help?" Thea asked her, helping her spread some topping over the pancake as AJ watched, "I put your homework in your bag." She told Cassie who nodded whilst AJ watched.

"Not maternal, huh?" AJ spoke to herself, turning around and finishing the rest of Cassie's lunch for school.

* * *

"Hey, how was school?" Punk asked, standing leaning against his car as he watched Jude approach him.

"School was fine." Jude nodded, walking past him and getting into the car as Punk sighed to himself.

"Well isn't this cosy." Thea smirked, sitting in the back seat where Jude got in.

Punk walked around the car and got back behind the wheel, looking on at Cassie who was sat in the front with him as requested, "You got your belts on?" He asked.

"Oh, now you wanna be safe?" Jude said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah. Belts on." Punk said seriously as Jude clipped her belt in, "I swear you two just take turns of hating me." He shook his head as Cassie looked at him.

"I don't hate you." Cassie smiled, stroking his arm as if he was a pet dog or cat.

"Just you wait." Thea said cheekily as Punk shook his head, pulling away from the school, "So you're really gonna do this every day until he gets sentenced?"

"Yes." Punk said, "Because this isn't a joke anymore. The boy has issues. And he's already proven he doesn't have any regard to your health or safety."

"Yeah, I get it." Thea nodded. It was still difficult to deal with. She was trying to handle it on her own. Keep it to herself. But it was still weighing down on her so heavy. This wasn't just a boyfriend she had for a year or two. Jackson had been such a significant person in her life since she was thirteen. This was harder than she could ever explain.

"Where are we going?" Jude asked, noticing they were taking a different route.

"I thought I'd take you down to the docks for the rest of the day." Punk nodded, "It's nice down there. And your mom is gonna join us when she's finished work." He said.

"Why does she wanna hang out with you?" Jude questioned whilst Thea looked on at Punk.

"She… We both think it's important that we spent some time together." Punk shrugged.

"Why? Because Thea's psycho ex wants to kill her?" Jude said as Punk groaned. If there was one thing he knew about his daughters as they'd grown up, they definitely weren't the most discrete or subtle about things.

"I mean… in simple terms." Thea shrugged, not taking so much offence.

"No." Punk shook his head, "No, I just think it wouldn't hurt to spend some time together." He nodded, looking in the rear view mirror at them both. It felt like only yesterday he would look into that mirror and see Thea as a sweet little kid and Jude as a little toddler in her carrier. And it was right there in front of him that they weren't those little girls anymore.

* * *

Punk drove to the docks, getting out of the car as the girls followed.

"So what are we gonna do? Just sit and stare at the water?" Jude asked, climbing down the ladder onto the deck as Punk followed.

"Well you guys can go check out some of the boats if you like." Punk said, "And I got some snacks if you get hungry later." He told them, "It's real cool down here at night, you can see all the lights and bridge looks real cool." He said as Thea nodded.

Thea knew that. She'd been down a few times with him, just to talk to him, take her mind off things.

"I wanna see the boats." Cassie smiled.

"Come on, I'll take you." Thea nodded, taking her hand and walking down the boardwalk as Punk smiled, turning around to Jude who stood with her arms folded.

"You still mad with me?" Punk asked her, nudging her playfully as Jude never budged, "Come on, Jude. What'd you want me to do? This boy is really hurting your sister. I can't not do anything when I see him in our house with three other guys." Punk explained, "I know you're scared and you worry that I'll end up going away again but I really am trying to do that whole… thinking before I act thing that you taught me." He nodded.

"I taught you?" She questioned.

"Yeah. You were the only one who called me out on it. And I'm grateful for that." Punk nodded, "But this is just… it's different. This boy is dangerous and I'll always put you and yours sisters safety above absolutely everything else in the world."

"Even if it means you end up back in prison?" Jude asked.

"Yes." Punk said as Jude looked at him, "Your safety is always going to be my number one priority. Nothing else." He said, "We just gotta get through this. Get this guy out of Thea's life." He nodded as Jude agreed with a nod.

"I just don't want you to get caught up in it." Jude shook her head.

"I know." Punk said, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her close, "I know you don't." He understood. He knew there was a cloud that hung over his family with the terrifying 'what if' inside it. But it was only natural to think that way after the years he'd lost with them.

"Why'd you really bring us down here?" Jude asked him.

"To really spend some time with you all." Punk laughed a little, "Now that your sister can actually be in the same space as me for more than a minute, I wanna spend time with all three of you again." He smiled as she nodded.

"Yeah, I don't know why she's warming up to you again." Jude admitted, looking over as Thea helped Cassie into one of the boats to look around.

"I think she just needed some time. Like you told me. She had her own stuff going on. I think she's realised that I can help her with it instead of adding more stress to it." Punk nodded.

"She's started watching Cubs games again." Jude nodded, "It's nice to have it back on the TV without her making anyone turn it over." She said as Punk smiled to himself, looking over at Thea. Despite the challenges she was facing with Jackson, there was still a smile on her face and he loved to see that.

"Maybe I can take you three to a game soon then." Punk nodded to her as Jude smiled.

"That'd be fun." Jude nodded as he kissed her head.

"Ok, go check the boats out." He encouraged, "Make sure Cassie doesn't fall in the water. She's clumsy like you." He said as Jude smiled, sitting her school bag down and walking off down the boardwalk as Punk smiled to himself, watching all three of them.

A few months ago, he never even thought he'd get to spend a day with all three of them at the same time. There was so much shit going on, but this felt pretty damn good.

* * *

"You're a little cheater. You always have been." Thea scoffed towards Jude who smirked after winning, sitting in one of the boats later that night, playing with the cards around the table.

"Someone show me how to play!" Cassie exclaimed loudly, kneeling up, "Let me in on the fun." She begged as Punk chuckled.

"Ok, we can play snap." Jude nodded.

"No. I want to play the real games." Cassie said.

"No, you're too slow." Thea told her as Cassie gasped, turning to Punk.

"You're not too slow, baby." Punk shook his head as she nodded, leaning into him as Punk smiled, wrapping his arm around her.

"How many is that I've won now?" Jude smirked, fanning herself with the cards, "I'm just too good."

"I know you're cheating." Thea shook her head.

"Oh, of course I am. I have x-ray vision. I can see through your cards." Jude exaggerated as Thea threw a chip at her.

"Alright alright." Punk chuckled, "I think me and you just suck." He nodded to Thea who rolled her eyes.

"We should play for money." Jude widened her eyes, looking at Punk who scoffed.

"How dumb do you think I am?" Punk asked as Jude scoffed.

"The lights are pretty." Cassie smiled, looking out at the water which was calm and peaceful, looking at all the lights from the tall buildings around them. It was dark as night was falling.

"You guys hungry?" Punk asked them.

"I am actually." Thea nodded.

"Should we uber something?" Jude took her phone out.

"Oh, yeah." Thea nodded, "Let me see."

"What the hell is that?" Punk shook his head, "I brought food." He remined them as they looked at him.

"What did you bring?" Jude asked with concern.

"Hot-dogs." Punk shrugged as Cassie looked over, interested.

"I like hot-dogs." Cassie smiled.

"What you gonna do? Cook them in the sea water?" Thea shook her head with confusion.

"There's a kitchen up there by the lockers." Punk shook his head as Thea nodded to herself. Made more sense.

"Ok, what the hell." Thea nodded.

Meanwhile AJ had arrived, struggling down the ladder as she wearing a dress and heels, her normal cooperate work attire. But she finally made it down, walking along the boardwalk, her walk slowing down when she saw Punk sitting in one of the boats with the girls around the table outside.

She smiled to herself, noticing they were playing cards and joking around. Perhaps one of the greatest sights she'd seen since he'd gone to prison. It just felt so normal, so right. And she knew how much this would mean to him to be able to hang out with all three of them.

"Hey, am I allowed aboard?" AJ asked as they turned around.

"Hi, mom." Cassie smiled.

"Hey, baby." AJ smiled, "How'd you get on there?" She asked.

"Jumped on." Cassie nodded as AJ raised her eyebrows.

"Sounds… unsafe." AJ gave a stern look at Punk who just smiled charmingly.

"No way are you climbing on here with those heels." Thea chuckled to herself as AJ took the heels off, throwing them into the boat along with her purse as Punk smiled to himself.

AJ climbed over on top of the boat, carefully making her way around the top of the boat over to the round table with the booth like circle around it.

"Is Jude beating you all?" AJ asked, making it over to the table in spectacular fashion.

"Of course." Jude nodded.

"That's my girl." AJ nodded, brushing her hand through Jude's hair before taking her coat off, "Hey, munchkin. How are you?" AJ smiled, picking Cassie up and hugging her tightly.

"I'm fine." Cassie smiled, "Look at all the lights." She pointed as AJ looked around and nodded.

"Pretty cool, huh?" AJ smiled, looking around, "Ok. Someone deal me a hand." AJ nodded.

"No way." Punk laughed, "You can't play games. You're a terrible loser." He said, "The packets of cards I've saw punished over the years scares me."

"Oh, be quiet." AJ waved her hand, sitting down beside Thea around the table, "I've aged with maturity." She assured him as Thea looked at her.

"You have?" Thea questioned as Jude chuckled.

"Yes. I have." AJ nodded positively.

* * *

"Mom, don't!" Jude chuckled, watching AJ launching the pack of cards into the water as Punk sat sniggering to himself, sometime later.

"Stupid frickin cards." AJ spat as Thea shook her head, "Stupid game." She scoffed as Punk just laughed to himself.

"Yeah…you've sure aged with real maturity." Thea nodded to her as AJ sat back down, folding her arms and looking down.

"Ok, I'm gonna go make these hot-dogs." Punk said, "Does the sore loser want one?" He asked AJ who looked up at him.

"Yes." AJ said, still in a huff as Punk chuckled to himself.

"Those better be fished back out of there when I get back." Punk teased as AJ shook her head with a small smile.

"Can I come help?" Cassie asked him.

"Of course you can." Punk nodded, climbing off the boat and helping Cassie out as they both headed down the boardwalk.

"So… was this your suggestion or his?" Thea asked AJ.

"Both." AJ nodded, "I suggested we have dinner or something together and he suggested coming down here." She shrugged as Thea nodded.

"It's nice." Jude nodded as AJ smiled.

"Yeah, it is." AJ agreed.

"There's a spot over there you can see some fish." Thea said, standing up, "Come see." She told Jude who stood up, both of them climbing out of the boat and heading over to the end of the boardwalk.

Punk eventually came back with hot-dogs for them with the help of Cassie.

"Cassie come look at the fish." Jude waved her hand as Cassie ran over to her sisters, "Look, you see." She pointed as Cassie nodded with a smile.

"Here, I'll sit these here." Punk sat down the hot-dogs for them.

"There's so many." Cassie smiled with excitement as Thea nodded.

"Look, there's a big one." Thea showed her, sitting down on the edge of the boardwalk as Punk smiled to himself, walking back over to the boat with a hot-dog for he and AJ.

"There's a whole ton of fish over there." Punk said, climbing back into the boat as AJ smiled, sitting up on the soft, long cushioned seat.

"What a coincidence." AJ smiled sarcastically as he nodded, sitting down beside her, sitting the hot-dogs on the table, "This was a good idea." She nodded, placing her hand on his leg as he smiled.

"This is the first I've hung out with all three of them at the same time." Punk nodded as AJ smiled to him, "It's a good feeling."

"Yeah, it is." AJ nodded, leaning up and kissing his cheek as Punk smiled.

"You've not fetched my cards out that water yet?" He teased as she chuckled, nudging him playfully as he leaned his forehead against her temple, wrapping his arm around her as she smiled, enjoying the closeness.

"Is that a gold fish?" Cassie asked, sitting on the edge of the boardwalk with her sisters whilst eating her hot-dog.

"A gold fish?" Jude scoffed as Thea chuckled, "Gold fish are tiny."

"They are?" Cassie questioned as they both nodded, "We should take these fish home and have them as pets."

"No, we shouldn't." Thea scoffed as Jude chuckled, standing up, about to go grab a drink when she paused, looking over at her parents who were sitting extremely close and… smiling together.

Jude tapped Thea with her foot, getting her attention as Thea stuck her head up like a meerkat, looking on at her parents sitting close together, talking to each other and smiling, the way she remembered it before things went terribly wrong.

"You don't suppose…" Jude slowly sat back down.

"Just leave them be." Thea smiled to her as Jude raised her eyebrows, not quite believing her parents seemed to actually be enjoying each other's company, "Here Cass, throw some of this bread in for the fish." Thea told Cassie who nodded, throwing some bread in as Jude smiled to herself.


	87. Disappeared

**Disappeared**

* * *

"So I'll pick all of you up tomorrow." Punk said, standing out AJ's house with the girls after spending an entire night with them down at the docks. He couldn't hide his smile, even if he wanted to. The joy he got from spending a night with his family, his wife and his three children, it was truly all he'd been dreaming about for eight years. It was almost surreal. It just meant so much.

"Ok." Jude nodded, hugging him tightly as Punk smiled, "Tonight was fun." She nodded. Jude was always the voice answering any questions he had in his head. She didn't have to ask him what he was thinking, she knew and she answered.

Punk smiled, kissing her head and watching as she walked on into the house.

"Me next." Cassie reached her hands up as Punk chuckled.

"Come here, you." Punk smiled, lifting her up into his arms and giving her a squeeze.

"Dad, I think I want a boat." Cassie told him as Punk chuckled to himself, "I like them."

"I can buy you a boat for the bath if you like." Punk nodded.

"Your cheeky." She told him as he smiled. She was the ball of energy and light that he cherished so much. He spent eight years trying to figure out what this little girl would be like, how she would act, and nothing could have prepared him for falling in love with another beautiful, talented, certainly outspoken little girl. He felt so lucky that she was in his life, and he got to see her grow every day.

"Ok, munchkin. You need to go get ready for bed." AJ nodded, standing at the door whilst Thea was getting out of the car.

"You have a good sleep." Punk said, kissing Cassie's head and putting her back down.

"You too." Cassie nodded, running away into the house as AJ smiled, watching Thea approaching the door.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow." Punk told her, "Your mom will take you. Phone fully charged. Don't wander off-"

"I know the rules." Thea hummed, walking past him, "I have a meeting tomorrow night."

"Me or your mom can take you and pick you up." Punk said as she nodded.

"I had fun tonight." Thea let him know. She wasn't lying. She had a ton of fun. It reminded her of life before things got difficult for her.

"I'm glad." Punk nodded as she smiled, nodding to him awkwardly.

She didn't go in for the hug, the smile was enough, heading on into the house. Things were still a little awkward between them, but it was definitely going in the right direction for sure.

"Are you as happy as you look?" AJ smiled, closing the door over a little as she stepped down onto the bottom step which elevated her to his height.

"You bet." Punk said, running his hand through his hair, "That was a big deal to me. Getting to see them, all three of them. Having you there too." He nodded as she smiled, "It was a good night."

"Yeah, it was." AJ smiled, "I wish you could come in." She admitted.

After the night they'd had, it did still feel strange to part ways at the end of the night. She desperately just wanted to bring him and go to bed with him, but she understood why it wasn't the best idea right now.

"I wish I could too but… one step at a time, right?" Punk nodded as she smiled.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, wrapping her arms around his neck, leaning in and kissing him slowly as he placed his hands on her hips, melting into the kiss which lasted for a good few minutes.

AJ eventually pulled back, looking at him and biting her lip as he smiled.

"Don't give me that look." He whispered, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Back seat of your car is looking good right now." She whispered as he chuckled.

"Go on." Punk nodded to the door, "I'll see you tomorrow." He said as she nodded, kissing him one last time before watching him head back to the car. It just felt right. It was the most peace she'd felt in eight years.

She walked on into the house, closing the door behind her, turning around and pausing when she saw Thea and Jude standing looking at her, arms folded with raised eyebrows.

"What?" AJ shook her head.

"You tell us." Jude said with an edgy smile.

"Took your time saying goodbye." Thea noted as AJ scoffed.

"We were just… just talking." AJ shrugged casually.

"You need my birth control to talk to him?" Thea questioned as AJ looked at her, turning to Jude who stared back at her.

They could see their mother all night, how close she was getting to their dad, how big her smile was, how happy she looked. And that was all they wanted. After everything she had done for them and helped them through, she deserved some happiness of her own.

"Is this an interrogation?" AJ wondered, "Are you both going to give me into trouble?" She wondered.

"No." Thea scoffed, "But you can tell us the truth. It's nothing you gotta hide." She nodded.

"We're not hiding it from you. I just think it's early days and we're taking it one day at a time. We just thought it was better to keep it private." AJ nodded.

"So is he gonna move back in with us?" Jude nodded as AJ looked at her.

"No." AJ shook her head, "No, not right now. We haven't even talked about anything like that." She said as Jude nodded slowly, "It's been a long time, when I say we're taking it slow, we're taking it slow." She nodded.

"You seem happy." Thea nodded as AJ looked at her, "It's nice." She smiled as AJ nodded.

"It sure beats fighting with him or… him not even being here." AJ said as the girls nodded, "I don't want you two to get wrapped up in any of that. That's why we decided not to tell you." She nodded.

"He's our dad, though." Jude said, "This… this is a good thing. Right?" She asked curiously.

"Of course it is." AJ smiled, rubbing her shoulder sweetly, "Of course it is." She nodded, "And look, he's too proud to say it loud but the fact he got to see all three of you tonight, at the same time." She said, specifically looking at Thea, "That meant a lot to him."

"Felt like I was twelve again." Thea admitted, "It was nice." She nodded.

Given the stress she had faced over just the past few weeks alone, it was nice to forget about it all for a night and hang out with her family. Her whole family. She really felt connected to her old self, the way she felt before things got hard for her. That felt really good to revisit the twelve year old inside her.

"Cassie had a lot of fun." Jude nodded.

"She did." AJ smiled, "But she's easily impressed, I guess." She nodded, "I know this is a pain in the ass, having to wait for me or your dad to pick you up or take you places but… it's the safe thing to do right now. In a couple weeks it'll be over." She said as they both nodded.

"Yeah." Jude nodded, "Well I'm gonna go to bed."

"Ok." AJ smiled.

"Me too." Thea added.

"I love you both." AJ smiled, watching as they headed upstairs, smiling to herself. Tonight was a good night.

* * *

"Hey, how did the meeting go?" Punk asked, picking up Thea from her AA meeting the next night.

"Uh… it was ok." Thea nodded, appearing to be a little agitated.

"You ok?" Punk asked her.

"Yeah." Thea nodded, "Well… Dominic wasn't at the meeting." She said, "And he normally texts me if he's not gonna make it." She said as Punk looked at her, "You know he doesn't ignore me. And I've sent him a couple texts over the past few days which he didn't reply to any." She said as Punk looked at her.

"Maybe… I don't know, maybe he's having phone problems." Punk shrugged.

"Can you take me to his house? I just wanna make sure." Thea nodded.

"Yeah, of course I can." Punk nodded, driving off as Thea put her belt on.

"What if he's drinking again?" Thea wondered with concern, "I'd be so sad for him." She sighed.

"Maybe he's sick or something, you don't know." Punk shrugged, trying to keep things positive, "Or he's working a lot, maybe."

"Yeah… yeah, maybe." Thea nodded, trying to convince herself, "But he always texts me back." She shook her head with confusion.

"Maybe you're annoying him." Punk teased as Thea looked at him, "I'm joking." He said quickly, feeling her glaring at him as he kept his eyes on the road.

"Maybe I am." Thea wondered.

"No, I'm just kidding with you." Punk assured, "He seems like he's a good friend to you." He nodded.

"He is." Thea nodded as Punk eventually got to the house.

"You want me to come?" Punk asked her.

"No." Thea scoffed, "Just stay here." She told him, getting out of the car and heading towards the door of the house, knocking on it politely and waiting.

She watched as someone eventually opened up the door.

"Hey." The man answered the door, who was not Dominic.

"Hi." Thea nodded, "I'm uh… I'm looking for Dominic." She said. She knew he lived with his older brother, and assumed this was him.

"Who are you?" Dominic's older brother, Scott asked.

"I'm Thea." Thea said, "I uh… I noticed he wasn't at the meeting tonight and he's not been replying to my messages. I'm just… I hope he's ok." She nodded.

"Oh, Thea." Scott smiled, "He talks about you." He nodded as Thea looked at him, "Yeah, I… he hasn't been home in a couple days." He said, "At first I thought he'd relapsed so I checked all the local bars he used to got to but… couldn't find him. Tried calling him, calling his friends, I actually was gonna come find you but I didn't have your address or your number. Because he does talk about you an awful lot." Scott said.

"He's missing?" Thea shook her head.

"Yeah. I've been to the cops and they're helping search for him. It's not like him to just disappear. Especially when he's been doing so good." Scott nodded, "Did he… did he say anything to you about leaving or going somewhere?"

"No. No, not at all." Thea said, "Oh my God." She sighed. It was gut wrenching and worrying to find this out, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Let me put my number in your phone. If he shows up or you find him, call me." He nodded, taking her phone.

"Yeah, of course." Thea said, "It's not in his character to just disappear."

"I know." Scott sighed.

"When did you last see him?" Thea asked curiously.

"We were finishing up a job the other night at a house. Electric gig." Scott said, "He said he'd stay behind and finish it up so I went on ahead. He didn't come home that night and he's been missing all day today too." He nodded.

"God." Thea sighed, taking her phone back from him, "Please call me if you find him." She nodded.

"I will." Scott nodded, "Thanks." He said as Thea nodded, watching him close the door over as she walked away, heading back to the car where her father was waiting.

"You speak to him?" Punk asked her as she got into the front seat beside him.

"He's missing." Thea turned to him with confusion.


	88. Who

**Who**

* * *

"What do you mean he's missing?" Punk shook his head.

"His brother said he's not been home in a couple days. He's not answering his phone either. He's been out looking for him, even told the cops too." Thea said as Punk shook his head with confusion, "He wouldn't just take off." She shook her head with confusion.

"Where did his brother last see him?" Punk asked.

"At their work. They're electricians." Thea said, "Dominic stayed behind to finish a job and that was the last his brother saw him. He didn't come home."

"Do you think he's… he's gone off on a bender?" Punk wondered.

"No… no, he was doing so good. And his brother said he checked pubs and bars. He's not been seen anywhere." Thea said worriedly, "What if something has happened to him?"

"Well did he say anything to you about… about going somewhere? Leaving this place?" Punk asked her.

"No. Nothing. The last time we text it was… I asked him the Hawks score. He goes to the games a lot. He sent me a funny picture of the beef sandwiches there… we always talk about them at the meetings." She shook her head as Punk looked at her, "That was a few days ago." She turned to him.

"Ok, try… try not think of the worst just yet." Punk said, "I'll take you home and I'll go ask around. I know what he looks like, his name, that's enough for me to get word around." He nodded, "Advantage is that people actually listen to me around here." He nodded.

"I wanna come with you." Thea shook her head.

"No, you're going home. I will call or text if I find him or I hear anything about him." Punk said, pulling away from the house.

"Just let me come with you. Two people looking is better than one-"

"No, Thea." Punk made clear as Thea looked at him whilst he drove, "I'll ask around on my own."

"I'm his friend." Thea fought back, "You don't even know him."

"I know that when Jackson took you that first time, he was out with me looking for you. So… in my mind he's a good guy." He nodded, pausing for a second as he heard himself back, realising a possible scenario.

"What?" Thea looked at him, "Why are you doing that face?" She questioned as Punk shook his head.

"I'm not doing a face." Punk said calmly.

"You are." Thea pointed, "That face when you think something bad is happening." She nodded as Punk shook his head.

"No, I'm not." Punk said, "I'm gonna drop you off at your house and I will go ask around." He nodded.

"God, it's like being imprisoned by my own family." Thea shook her head.

"Trust me, if you were imprisoned, you'd know about it." Punk shook his head as Thea looked at him and sighed, "I promise I'll call if I hear anything."

"Yeah, you better." Thea made clear, "And also can I just say one thing to you." She said.

"What?" He asked suspiciously.

"It's great getting to see mom happy again, seeing her smiling and living for herself again. I'm not naïve. I know you play a big part in that." She said, "But I swear, if you hurt her like she was hurt eight years ago, and trust me, if anyone knows how bad she was hurt, it's me." She made clear, "I will… set her up with someone who is smarter, funnier and better looking than you." She said childishly as Punk just chuckled and nodded.

"You know you get your childishness from her." Punk nodded, "It's not anything you got worry about." He assured her as Thea scoffed.

"Yeah, well she deserves the best." Thea nodded.

"I agree." Punk said, pulling up outside the house.

"You call me." She pointed, getting out of the car as he nodded, watching her slam it shut and head off into the house.

When she was out of sight, he groaned whilst rubbing his hands over his face. Putting himself in the shoes of Jackson, which was scary enough, he could only imagine that the guy spending a lot of time with Thea was probably at the top of his list of things to take care of before heading to prison.

He remembered where Jackson lived and drove straight to the apartment. He only knew because it wasn't far from where he and AJ used to live in their first place. He called Dean too who vowed to be there as soon as possible.

Punk got out of the car after parking it, walking into the apartment building. The door was smashed which meant he didn't have to wait for the buzzer. He then ran up the stairs, knocking on the first apartment door where an older man came out.

"Hey, does a Jackson live on this block?" Punk asked.

"Top floor." The man nodded, slamming the door shut as Punk rolled his eyes, nevertheless, running upstairs to the top floor, knocking on the first apartment and waiting in the hall for an answer.

Eventually the door opened up as Punk turned around, looking across at Jackson who stood.

"You let him go right now." Punk spat, pushing his way into the apartment as Jackson laughed to himself.

"We were just having a conversation." Jackson insisted as Punk stormed through the apartment.

"Where is he?" Punk spat angrily, storming through the apartment, eventually walking into the living room where he saw Dominic on the ground. There wasn't a part of his face that wasn't covered in blood.

"Oh my God." Punk shook his head, rushing over to him and crouching down, "Dominic." Punk shook him a little, "Hey." He noticed him open his eyes a little, "Hey, I'm gonna get you out of here, ok?" He nodded as Jackson stood by the door chuckling.

It made Punk sick to his stomach that this was her daughter's first experience of a relationship. With this horrible, evil human being. It was a relief that Thea was now aware of how evil he was, and could be.

"We were just talking." Jackson shrugged as Punk stood up and turned around.

"You're fucking sick in the head." Punk spat, "He has… he's got nothing to do with any of this. Nothing." Punk hissed.

"Oh, come on. He's sleeping with Thea. I know it." Jackson nodded, "And she's pregnant with my kid so-"

"No. No she isn't." Punk spat, "She lied so you wouldn't hurt her. She's not pregnant. And she's not with him. He's her friend." Punk pointed to Dominic who was moving a little, but after the beatings he'd taken over the past few days, it was pretty difficult, "He is her friend who cares about her, which is more than you ever did in eight years for her." Punk hissed.

"She's not pregnant?" Jackson looked at him.

"No. She's not." Punk spat, "She told you that so you wouldn't hurt her. So congratulations, you stoop low to beating on women, but you draw the line at pregnant women." He nodded

"She lied to me?" Jackson shook his head.

"You have ruined her. She is scared. How do you spend so much time with someone since you're a kid and turn around one day and treat her like this?" Punk shook his head, "How?!" He yelled.

"I did care about her. And then you got out of prison, and she changed." Jackson nodded, "She was no fun anymore." He shook his head, "Because let me tell you, she was a lot of fun." He smirked as Punk grabbed him by the throat.

"There is something seriously wrong with you." Punk nodded, choking Jackson, holding him up against the wall, "They are going to swallow you up in prison. You have no idea what you're in store for." Punk hissed.

"I hope one day you get to see her high. She's a whole other person." Jackson smiled, squeezing out words from his throat which Punk grabbed tighter and tighter.

Punk then threw him down to the ground, kicking him and forcing himself away as he ran his hands over his hair. He focused his attention back to Dominic, helping him up as he leaned against the side of the couch.

"Hey, buddy. I'll get you out of here." Punk nodded to Dominic. He'd never seen a face so bloody and beaten, and he'd seen a few in his time. It was unfair and it was done by the hands of someone who really didn't care. Who was soulless. But someone who was soulless in hidden form was always so much more dangerous. It reminded him of someone…

"You don't wanna know who my dad is?" Jackson chuckled, sitting up from the ground as Punk looked over.

"Just the shut the fuck up." Punk shook his head, helping Dominic up just as Dean came running in.

"Jesus Christ." Dean got a look at Dominic's face, turning to Jackson, "Alright, I say we just kill this fucker." Dean shook his head angrily.

"No, just… take Dominic to the hospital. I'll be right behind you." Punk nodded to Dean, "Careful with him, he's… I think he's got some broken ribs." Punk said, being able to tell by the way Dominic was wheezing.

"Ok." Dean nodded.

"If the hospital ask, tell them everything. We're getting the cops on this shit." Punk said as Jackson chuckled from the floor.

"You shut up." Punk spat.

"Ok, come on, pal." Dean nodded, helping Dominic slowly out of the living room as Punk looked over at Jackson who was sitting on the floor.

"We're gonna take him to the hospital." Punk nodded, "And I'm gonna call Thea, and she's gonna have to see what you did to him. And knowing Thea, she'll blame herself." He said, "But she's gonna see who you really are, and if she didn't hate you before, she will now." Punk said, crouching down in front of Jackson who glared at him, "And we're gonna tell the cops everything, and you're probably gonna be taken into jail, and more will be added to your sentence." He said, "And you will rot in prison for many, many years."

"Like looking in the mirror, huh?" Jackson smiled.

"Oh, no… no no no." Punk hummed, "I never hurt anyone. I never inflicted pain on innocent people and I never physically harmed any of the people I love." He said, "You're a rare breed." He nodded, "And it might suck for you that I made some friends in prison. Maybe I give them a visit, tell them to… introduce themselves to you." He nodded as Jackson looked at him, with a little more fear, "You see how life works… how things can come back and bite you in the ass? This whole thing started with you. Started with you breaking my family apart. And it's gonna end with you, locked up, whilst I get to spend the rest of my life with my family." He nodded as Jackson glared at him, "And you know what? That boy… Dominic, he's known Thea for a month or so and he already treats her way better than you ever have." He smirked, knowing it got under his skin as Jackson glared at him.

"Well… they're both alcoholics so… I'm sure it'll end in spectacular fashion." Jackson nodded as Punk kicked him on the face as Jackson fell back onto the ground.

"You enjoy prison." Punk nodded, standing back up straight.

"You don't wanna know who my dad is?" Jackson asked, dazed by the kick as he tried to sit up.

"Who? Who the fuck is your dad?" Punk threw his hands up, uninterested and unbothered.

"Apparently… you knew him." Jackson sat up as Punk looked over, "His name was Rio." He nodded as Punk stared across at him.


	89. Hospital

**Hospital**

* * *

"Oh my God." Thea walked into the hospital room, gasping upon seeing Dominic's face as AJ followed behind her, placing her hand over her mouth as she saw Dominic.

"Hey." Dominic smiled as Thea raised her eyebrows, walking over to him and shaking her head.

"Oh my God." She shook her head. It was all she could say. His face was so bruised and beaten. Like an animal had clawed at him.

"I'm all good." Dominic nodded as Thea shook her head.

"Are you crazy?" Thea said, "I can't believe he did this to you. I'm… I'm so sorry." She shook her head frantically.

"This wasn't your fault." Dominic assured her, "Don't blame yourself." He shook his head, nudging her arm softly whilst AJ looked over.

"What are the doctors saying?" AJ asked.

"I've got three broken ribs and a broken eye-brow bone." Dominic said as AJ sighed, "They've gave me a lot of pills to help, though." He nodded.

"Have the police been in?" AJ asked as Dominic nodded.

"Yeah they've not long left." Dominic said, "Just asking me questions about what happened. Phil and his brother are out there… somewhere." He pointed to the door.

"I'm so sorry." Thea shook her head, "This is my fault. He only went for you because of me." She said.

"Don't blame yourself." Dominic shook his head, "He's a… he's a bad person. There's a ton of them out there." He said, "This wasn't your fault." He shook his head as AJ sighed.

"Do you need anything?" Thea asked him, drying her tears, "I can go get you some… some clothes or… are you hungry? Thirsty?" She asked as AJ smiled to herself.

"I'm ok." Dominic smiled, "Scott is coming soon with some clothes." He assured her as Thea nodded, "I'll take a hug, though." He nodded as Thea looked at him, nodding and leaning over him to give him a hug.

AJ smiled, discreetly leaving the hospital room and heading off down the corridor to find Punk and Dean, who were standing by the coffee machine in the waiting area.

"Hey." AJ got their attention as they both turned around.

"Hey." Punk nodded to her as she walked over to them, leaning up and giving him a kiss as Dean watched and smile.

"Aw, that's nice to see that again." Dean smiled, making them uncomfortable as AJ rolled her eyes.

"That poor boy looks like he's been clawed at by animals." AJ shook her head as they both nodded.

"They're out for his arrest right now." Punk nodded.

"Why did he go after Dominic?" AJ shook her head, "That poor boy hasn't done anything. And now Thea is in there blaming herself." She said.

"He's a jealous lunatic." Dean shook his head, "With many, many screws loose." He nodded, "Danger to himself and to others." He said, "Now tell her what you told me." He nodded to Punk as AJ looked over curiously.

"Tell me what?" AJ shook her head as Punk ran his hand through his hair.

"Well he brought up his dad again. Asked me didn't I want to know who his dad was." Punk shrugged, "Didn't think anything of it." He shook his head truthfully as AJ looked at him.

"Well who is his dad?" AJ asked impatiently.

"Rio." Punk looked across at her.

AJ let out a laugh, not being able to digest such information.

"Of course." AJ chuckled, walking over to the vending machine as Punk looked over at Dean, "You pick your moments for jokes." She nodded, putting some money into the machine as Punk looked over at her.

"Look I've not… I've not really looked into it but… it's not impossible. That could be his dad." Punk nodded as AJ shook her head, pressing the buttons on the machine, "April."

"There's no way. He never talked about a kid." AJ shook her head, "He's just getting into your head."

"Maybe but… would it really shock you?" Punk asked, "I've never known two people more alike. If Rio ever had a son, Jackson would be it." He shook his head as AJ turned to him after grabbing her chocolate bar from the vending machine.

"You don't know anything. You're gonna take that lunatic's word?" AJ questioned.

"Well I'm gonna look into it, yeah." Punk nodded, "I'm gonna go talk to his mom."

"This is insane." AJ shook her head as they both nodded.

"Yeah. It is." Dean nodded, "But he's going to jail and he'll not get out, not after this, not after the cops saw Dominic's face." He said, "Which makes it a safer place for all of us. Safer place for Thea." He said specifically as Punk and AJ nodded.

"She's in there blaming herself." AJ shook her head.

"Knew she would be." Punk shook his head, running his hand through his hair, "Where are Jude and Cassie?" He asked.

"I dropped them with Renee." AJ said, "As soon as you called Thea she wanted to come straight here." She nodded.

"I thought she would." Punk said.

"You really think that's his son?" AJ shook her head with confusion.

"It could be." Punk nodded, "Certainly see traits in him. But Rio must have died when he was like five or six." He said, "So he can't turn around and tell me he did all of this for his dad, whatever way that could be. The kid wouldn't have known him at all." Punk shook his head.

"Rio isn't a guy that you don't know about, though. He's probably grew up and heard all about him." Dean said, "Hence why he probably got close to Thea, got close to this family…" Dean shook his head, "Scum of the earth."

"How is Dominic?" Punk asked AJ.

"He seemed ok. Better than he looks." AJ admitted.

"Yeah, they got him on morphine." Punk raised his eyebrows, "He's got three broken ribs, broken eyebrow bone and a jaw fracture."

"He didn't mention the jaw fracture." AJ shook her head.

"Yeah well he's on morphine." Punk nodded, "Poor guy must just feel numb." He shook his head as AJ nodded.

"I'm gonna go back and check on them." AJ said.

"Yeah, I'll come." Punk agreed.

"I'm gonna shoot." Dean said, "Good thing that bastard is off the streets now."

"Do we know he definitely is?" AJ questioned.

"Cops said they would call when they got him." Dean said as AJ nodded, "He'll be kept in until his sentencing."

"Should have been the case all along." AJ shook her head.

"Yeah." Dean nodded, "Ok, I'll see you both later." He patted them both before heading off out of the hospital.

"How did you know that's where he'd be?" AJ asked Punk, walking back to the hospital room.

"Cause I know the guy is obsessive and controlling. I thought it'd be the first place to look for Dominic."

"What actually happened?" AJ asked him.

"He got jumped after he finished his work." Punk said, "Couple of guys roughed him up and then took him to Jackson's place. From what Dominic said, he was just questioning about Thea, beating him at the same time, saying all this ridiculous stuff." Punk shook his head as AJ sighed.

"He was her first boyfriend." AJ shook her head. It made her feel sick that this was what her daughter had to deal with. This level of hatred and wickedness from someone she once loved. It wasn't fair.

"Yeah, I know." Punk shook his head, "I wish she didn't have to deal with this." He said as AJ nodded, "But I'm relieved that he's gone. He can't hurt her. He can't play the nice guy anymore. Pretending he actually gives a damn." He said, "She can move on and… she'll find better. Much better." He said as AJ nodded.

"I hope so." AJ sighed, "You're doing good at this rescuing thing." She smiled to him as he laughed a little.

"Yeah just call me Batman." Punk nodded as AJ shook her head.

"Always a nerd." She scoffed as he smiled, kissing her cheek and walking back down the corridor. It was weird how much things just fell into place with them. There was no effort o their behalf. It was just there. Their love was always right there.

They walked back into the hospital room where Thea was sitting by Dominic's bed, talking to him, smiling with him. As her parents, they could just separate who the good guys were from the bad guys. They knew Dominic was good.

"How you doing?" Punk asked as Dominic nodded.

"Little better." Dominic nodded, "I was just telling Thea you're a lot softer than you look." He said as Punk nodded to himself.

"Oh, really?" Punk laughed a little as Dominic nodded, "You call your brother?"

"Yeah, he should be here soon." Dominic nodded, "Did the police get him?" He asked as Thea looked over to Punk.

"They're gonna call when they do." Punk nodded, "They might come back for further questioning but I think they got everything they needed just by looking at you." Punk said as Dominic nodded.

"You think?" Dominic joked as Punk smiled.

"Do you need us to get you anything?" AJ asked sweetly, "Have you called your mom?" She wondered as Thea turned to her, shaking her head angrily as AJ shook her head with confusion.

"Little difficult since she's buried under the ground." Dominic nodded, wincing a little as he tried to sit up.

"Oh, God. I'm so sorry." AJ shook her head.

"It's ok." Dominic smiled, "It's uh… it's just me and my brother. My aunt lives an hour away and I… I wouldn't want to worry her." He said, "I don't need anything from you guys but… thank you." He assured them as AJ nodded with a smile.

"Ok… well why don't we head off?" Punk turned to AJ who nodded, "Let you get some rest and see your brother." He said as Dominic nodded.

"Uh… can I stay?" Thea looked at Punk and AJ.

AJ turned to Punk, nodding to him as Punk nodded.

"Yeah… yeah, you stay." Punk said as Thea nodded, "Call me when you need picked up."

"Ok." Thea nodded, watching as they left the room, turning back to Dominic.

"You don't have to stay here." Dominic shook his head, "You should go home. It's late." He nodded.

"No, I wanna stay here." Thea nodded to him as he smiled.

"Don't blame yourself." He put his hand over hers, "None of this is your fault." He shook his head.

"I feel like it is." Thea shook her head, "He did this because of me."

"No, he did it because there's something wrong with him. He's messed up." Dominic nodded.

"He's like a stranger now." Thea shook her head, "I don't even feel like I know him. At all. I feel like everything I had with him… memories, all these years, they're just gone now." She said as he nodded.

"He never deserved you. Not with those intentions in his mind all along." Dominic said, "You deserve much better than that. Much." He nodded as she smiled.

"Thank you." Thea whispered. It'd been a while since she'd been reminded of her worth.


	90. Impulse

**Impulse**

* * *

"I have nothing to say to you."

"I just wanna ask you a couple questions." Punk said, standing on the front step as he looked on at Jackson's mother, Jane, standing behind the door, keeping it barely opened.

"There's nothing you need to ask me." Jane shook her head.

"There is actually." Punk nodded, "Are you even aware of what your son has been doing these past few weeks?" He questioned, "What he's done to my daughter?" He asked as Jane looked at him.

"I haven't spoken to Jackson in a while." Jane said, "He stopped coming by to see me."

"So you don't know he's in jail?"

"Well… I know that." Jane nodded, "I didn't ask for the details." She said as Punk looked at her, "But I find it ironic that you, someone who made my life a living hell, is here to tell me about mistakes my son has made-"

"First of all, I wouldn't call them mistakes. They're more than that." Punk made clear, "Second, I made your life a living hell?" He questioned.

"You did." Jane nodded, "With drugs. I used to get them from Marina. You worked for her-"

"I… it wasn't out of choice." Punk said, "I'm not the reason you became a drug addict." He made clear, "Could I please come in? I won't take up much time. I just wanna ask you something."

"Well ask me it." Jane said, "You don't have to come in my house to do that." She said as Punk looked at her.

"Don't you want to know what your son has done?" Punk questioned.

"Not really." Jane shook her head, "If it's bad enough to be in prison, it's bad enough that I don't wanna know-"

"He kidnapped my daughter. Beat her. Tried to inject her with drugs. Then he came to her house and threatened her again, brought over other guys. My three daughters were in the house on their own." He said, "And then he beat one of Thea's friends. He's got broken ribs. Broken eyebrow bone and a broken jaw." Punk said as Jane gulped.

"Is that what you came here to tell me?" Jane asked.

"So this doesn't come as a surprise to you?" Punk asked her.

"He's always had a temper." Jane said, opening the door a little more as she grew more comfortable, "Although, I'm a little confused because… I really thought he loved Thea. I don't understand why he would do that to her-"

"She doesn't understand it either." Punk said.

"He has his father's devilment." Jane nodded to herself as Punk looked at her.

"Is that right?" Punk questioned as Jane looked at him, "His father… Rio?" Punk asked as Jane raised her eyebrows, not anticipating on him knowing that.

"How did you-"

"Jackson told me." Punk said, "I didn't know if he was lying but… obviously not." He shook his head, running his hand through his hair with stress, "I never knew Rio had a kid."

"He didn't have a kid. He took nothing to do with Jackson. Abandoned both of us." Jane spat, "Never gave me so much as a penny to take care of him." She said.

"Does Jackson know about him? About what he was like?" Punk asked curiously.

"Yeah, I told him when he was old enough. And he found out on his own too. Rio is a well-known name in this area. That's why I advised him not to go around telling people that was his dad." Jane said, "I always got the sense that he enjoyed that part of it, though." She shook her head.

"So did he know about me before he even got with Thea?" Punk wondered.

"I think so. I think he found out your connection with Rio at some point. Knew you two had beef." Jane nodded, "He wanted me to stop taking drugs so he killed two birds with one stone, went after you and in the process Marina's business got run out of town." She said, "I will say this… he did love Thea. He cared about her."

"Not anymore. Not after what he did to her." Punk shook his head, "If he cared about her at all, he wouldn't have treated her like that. He wouldn't have got me put in prison either."

"Well he told me it was easier to get to know Thea without you around." Jane shrugged as Punk nodded to himself.

"Yeah, of course he did." Punk nodded, "Do you know my daughter? Have you talked to her before?"

"A couple times." Jane nodded, "She's been at this house a few times. Most times she was completely out of her face. Couldn't help but think that poor girl is suffering your karma." She nodded to him as Punk glared at her.

"Yeah well Jackson is gonna get his now." Punk nodded, "I'm sure Rio would be real damn proud of him."

"He would." Jane nodded, "I'm sure his last dying wish would have been to involve you and your wife in some sort of punishment." She said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah well he's not here." Punk said, "We can all benefit from that." He said as Jane nodded in agreement, "And we can also benefit from your son being locked up for a long time." He said as Jane looked across at him, "Because he is a troubled, dangerous and reckless kid."

"I know he is." Jane nodded as Punk looked across at her, "You can go now." She looked at him as he nodded to himself.

"Yeah, I can." Punk shook his head, turning around and walking away as Jane immediately closed the door over.

* * *

"How is the eye feeling?" Thea asked, sitting by Dominic's bed. She felt herself not wanting to leave. She felt guilty about what happened to him. No matter what people told her and assured her with, she still felt guilty deep down. He was so innocent, so uninvolved in all of this, she couldn't help feel it was her fault.

"It's ok." Dominic nodded tiredly, "You really don't have to stay here. You should go home. It's late." He said as Thea shook her head.

"No… no, I'll stay." Thea smiled, "I know how much it sucks to lie in a hospital bed at night and feel alone" She nodded as he turned to her.

"If you're uncomfortable in hospitals, I totally get it-"

"I'm ok." Thea nodded.

"How long were you in for?" Dominic asked her.

"About a week." Thea said, "Worst week of my life probably." She nodded to herself as Dominic looked at her, "My mom had to feed me because my tremors were so bad. Couldn't use my hands." She said as Dominic looked at her sadly, "Never… never told anyone that." She realised, scratching the back of her head awkwardly.

"Look at you now." Dominic smiled, taking her hand, "Hands fully functioning." He said as she smiled, "Look how far you came from then. I'm sure you had help from your family but you did the work. You're still doing it. Every day. I don't forget that because I know what it's like." He said.

Thea looked across at him, quickly leaning over before she talked herself out of it, leaning over and pecking his lips nervously, sitting back down on the chair as he raised his eyebrows, barely having time to react.

"Sorry, I don't know why I did that." Thea shook her head as Dominic smiled a little.

"You don't?" Dominic asked.

"No, I really don't." Thea placed her hand over her mouth as Dominic laughed a little, "I'm sorry, I… I shouldn't have done that."

"I… politely disagree." Dominic nodded to her as she looked across at him, "Wouldn't even mind if you did it again." He said casually as Thea smiled a little towards him.

"You wouldn't?" Thea smiled.

"Not at all." Dominic nodded as Thea smiled, leaning back over and kissing him again, this time with a lot more ease, a lot more slower and passionate than the first nervous peck.

He was just different. She couldn't really describe it. He was on the same wave length as her. She felt like she could be her complete self, even the worst parts of her she could tell him about, and that was ok. And at a time where she felt like she couldn't trust anyone ever again, certainly not another boy, she still somehow found it impossible not to trust him.

"Hey, it's just-" Punk paused as he walked into the hospital room, watching as Thea quickly sat back on the chair, going bright red whilst Dominic just chuckled, "Should I put a do not disturb on the door?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Dad." Thea scoffed with embarrassment as Punk chuckled to himself.

"I'll let you heal before you and I have a little chat." Punk nodded to Dominic who smiled and nodded, "I come with good news." He said.

"They got him?" Thea asked as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, they arrested him." Punk said, "They'll probably come in and ask you some more questions." He looked at Dominic who nodded, "They might ask you some things too." He looked at Thea, "But… you tell it like it is. He'll get what he deserves." He nodded as Thea sighed to herself.

"Where were you?" Thea asked him as Punk looked across at her.

"I was visiting his mom." Punk said.

"Jane?" Thea scoffed, "Why? She won't give a damn."

"She didn't." Punk nodded, "I just… I had to ask a few questions."

"What questions?" Thea raised a brow, standing up, "What are you up to?" She asked suspiciously as Punk rolled his eyes.

"Why do you always think I'm up to something?" Punk questioned.

"Because most often than not, you are." Thea said whilst Dominic laughed to himself.

"So maybe I found out something." Punk shrugged.

"What?" Thea questioned as Punk looked at her.

"Jackson's dad." Punk said, "You remember during storytime with your mom when she explained everything to you about me and her, what happened back when we were… your age, younger." He said.

"Well there was a lot to cover but… yeah, I remember most of it." Thea said, "Why? What's that got to do with Jackson?"

"His dad was Rio." Punk nodded as Thea looked at him, "He took nothing to do with him. Died when he was five anyway." Punk said, "But… still his dad."

"The guy who tried to hurt mom?" Thea asked as Punk nodded, looking over at Dominic.

"This is a very dramatic family." Punk nodded to him, "But welcome." He said jokingly as Dominic chuckled.

"He never said anything to me about it." Thea shook her head with confusion.

"Yeah, I think he kept it to himself for the most part." Punk said.

"That's insane." Thea said, "Do you think he deliberately tried to get with me because of that-"

"I don't think so." Punk said truthfully, "I think he's just a troubled kid that had a tough life growing up, wasn't really taught about love and family." He said, "And his mind went to other places." He nodded as Thea sighed to herself.

"How long do you think he'll be in prison?" Dominic asked. He wasn't sure about the history or what they were talking about, he just knew Jackson was a very dangerous person.

"Long time." Punk nodded to them both, "Look, it's getting really late now. You need to get some sleep." He nodded to Dominic, "No distractions." He said, looking at Thea who glared back at him.

"Yeah, I don't want you hanging around here all night." Dominic agreed, looking at Thea who nodded.

"Ok." Thea agreed, "I think we could all use some sleep." She said as Dominic nodded, "But I'll be back in the morning." She nodded, putting her coat on as Dominic smiled.

"Ok." Dominic smiled, watching as Thea headed out of the hospital room, watching as Punk followed behind, however not before looking over at him, pointing his two fingers at his eyes and back to Dominic in a 'I'm watching you' gesture as Dominic just chuckled.

"Ok, let's go." Punk said, joining Thea in the hospital corridor and heading for the exit, looking back and forth to her as Thea rolled her eyes.

"Whatever funny things you have to say, I don't care to hear them." She said sassily, walking ahead of him as Punk just chuckled to himself, "Stop laughing." She called back as he smiled.


	91. Moving Forward

**Moving Forward**

* * *

_4 months later…_

"You're sure about this?" Thea's tutor sat across from her in his office at college, "I put it through today. You gotta be sure."

"Yeah… I-I think I'm sure." Thea nodded.

"You think?" He tilted his glasses down, "Thea… this isn't something you wanna waste your time with. You gotta be serious about it." He nodded.

"I am." Thea said, "I'm sure." She nodded confidently as he nodded slowly.

"Then I need you to take these forms away and sign them. Fill them all out. And don't lie in any of them like you did in first year." He scoffed as Thea rolled her eyes.

"Shut up, Andrew." Thea mumbled, taking the forms from him as he smiled to himself.

"I was hoping you'd decide this." Andrew nodded to himself.

"It doesn't come across that way." Thea laughed.

"Tough love can go a long way." He smiled, "Start of this year I didn't think you'd finish the first semester never mind the final one." He admitted.

"Me neither." Thea admitted honestly.

"Glad you did, though." Andrew smiled as she nodded.

"Yeah, me too." Thea nodded with a sigh of relief.

"You got a lot to look forward to next year. But it's gonna be intense and super difficult." He nodded honestly.

"Yeah, I figured." Thea nodded, "I'm excited for it, though."

"Good. That's the way it should be." Andrew nodded.

"Last year I wasn't excited about anything." Thea admitted, "Didn't think I ever would be excited about anything again." She said.

"Doesn't stay bad forever." Andrew said as Thea nodded, "Ok, go away and fill those in and I'll put your placement through." He nodded.

"Ok." Thea smiled excitedly, standing up as Andrew watched her.

"Thea." Andrew said as Thea turned around before leaving the office, "Good job this year." He smiled as Thea nodded.

"Thanks." Thea nodded with a smile, walking out of the office and closing the door behind her.

* * *

"You are looking at a soon to be trainee doctor, people." Thea announced, walking into her kitchen where her mother and father were.

"What?" AJ dropped what she was doing, "I thought you said you hadn't decided." She shook her head as Punk looked over, intrigued.

"Well I did decide." Thea shrugged, "I want a challenge." She nodded, "And that's definitely it." She said, "I'm nervous but that's a good thing." She figured.

"I am so proud of you." AJ smiled happily, wrapping her arms around Thea who hugged her back, "So proud." AJ cupped the back of her head, kissing her as Thea laughed a little.

"I haven't done anything yet." Thea chuckled.

"Girl, you're making big moves. That's something." AJ nodded as Thea smiled. She could always count on her mother to make her feel like she was doing something right.

She pulled back from her mother's loving embrace, looking over at her father who was also smiling. She never even imagined him being in her future. He'd been gone for so long that it was hard to think of him ever being in her life again, but he was very much here.

"Your mom is right." Punk nodded, "That's big moves." He said as Thea nodded, "And I'm super proud of you." He said as Thea smiled.

"Thank you." She nodded, shuffling over to him and wrapping her arms around him as Punk smiled, circling his arms around her, squeezing her tightly as AJ smiled to herself. Every day she watched them get closer, back to the way they used to be, and it was magical.

"This deserves some sort of celebration." Punk nodded as Thea pulled back.

"Well I'm going out with Dominic." She said, hoping they wouldn't be too mad.

"Oh, I see how it is." Punk folded his arms.

"Plus, Jude isn't even here." Thea shrugged.

"Where is Jude?" Punk turned to AJ.

"She's at the movies." AJ nodded, looking over at Thea who was grinning a little.

"With?" Punk tilted his head as AJ and Thea looked at him.

"Her friends." AJ and Thea both nodded.

"Which friends?" Punk folded his arms.

"Her girlfriends." AJ and Thea both nodded robotically as Punk arched a brow.

"Is she on a date?" Punk looked from AJ to Thea.

"Anyway." Thea clasped her hands together, "I'm going out with Dominic. We have a place booked."

"Oh, nice. Where?" AJ turned to her.

"Woah, woah… back up a minute." Punk put his hands up, "Is Jude on a date?" He asked them.

"No, no she's not on a date." AJ scoffed as Punk looked her in the eye.

"Sweet Jesus, she is." Punk placed his hand on his chest, "I didn't agree to this-"

"I don't believe this has anything to do with you." Thea laughed a little, "It's a first date. Nothing happens on a first date-"

"Who is this boy? What is his name?" Punk asked with folded arms.

"His name is Thomas." AJ nodded as Punk scoffed.

"What kind of name is Thomas?" Punk said pathetically as Thea shook her head.

"A pretty normal name." Thea nodded, "She's almost sixteen. You keep your beak out of it." She pointed to her father.

"Why wouldn't she tell me, though? Jude tells me everything." He frowned.

"Dad's don't get told those things." Thea shook her head, "Now get over yourself." She encouraged.

"Don't you have a booking to go to?" Punk said childishly as Thea made a face at him before leaving the kitchen.

"I was going to tell you but… we do have girl code in this house." AJ said.

"Yeah well I don't like this girl code thing." Punk waved his hand, "That's two out of three." He gulped, "I feel faint." He sighed to himself as AJ chuckled a little.

"It's a first date." AJ said, "Not a marriage."

"How old is he?" Punk asked curiously.

"Same age I think." AJ nodded.

"You think?" Punk shook his head.

"You need to chill out." AJ shook her head as Punk groaned to himself, "And don't make a big scene about it to Jude. In fact, just don't say anything." AJ nodded as Punk began to speak, "I said nothing." She pointed as Punk closed his mouth and frowned.

"Mom!" Cassie strutted into the kitchen, throwing her school bag down on the ground, "One of my straps broke off and I had to carry my bag in front of me." She said stressfully as Punk looked over.

"How did you break it?" AJ shook her head, picking the bag up as Cassie ran over to Punk, getting a huge hug from him as she always did.

"I didn't break it." Cassie said, "It snapped. It broke itself." She said as Punk lifted her up onto his knee, "Hi." She smiled to Punk.

"Hi." Punk smiled back, "How was school?" He asked her, "Apart from the bag issues." He said.

"School was fine." She told him, "But now I'm hungry for dinner." She said, looking around the kitchen, hopeful that dinner was being made, "Hey, where are my sisters?"

"Both being led astray by boys." Punk said as AJ pinched his neck, "Ouch." He massaged the back of his neck as AJ stared at him, "They're out with friends." Punk told Cassie.

"Spaghetti for dinner, babe." AJ said, messing with Cassie's hair, "Go take your things upstairs and get washed up. It'll be ready soon."

"Oh, ok." Cassie smiled happily, jumping off her father's knee and running away.

"Your bag!" AJ called her bag.

"I don't want it anymore." Cassie shrugged, continuing to run away upstairs as Punk chuckled to himself. Cassie was definitely her own person. She was still showing Punk knew things about her that he didn't know, and every day he was especially thankful that she was in his life. It was difficult, having missed so much of her life, but he didn't want a waste a moment anymore.

"You staying for dinner?" AJ asked him.

"You got enough?" Punk asked.

"Please. I make spaghetti for the street and you know this." AJ scoffed, "You staying for bedtime?" She asked him.

"Yeah, well Cassie told me she was writing a story in school today and that she'd read me it before bed so-"

"I wasn't talking about Cassie's bedtime." She smirked over her shoulder at him whilst stirring the spaghetti as he chuckled to himself.

* * *

"Hurry up! Hurry up!" Cassie patted Punk's back as she got a piggy back ride from him going upstairs. She was in her pyjamas and he had been called upon to uber her to her bed, like he did most nights.

"I'm going as fast as I can." Punk said, "I'm running out of gas." He said, reaching the top of the stairs as her little arms clung around his shoulders.

"We made it." Cassie smiled as Punk walked into her bedroom, putting her down on her bed.

"Ok, that'll be one hundred dollars." He said as Cassie scoffed, getting under her covers.

"I don't got a bank." Cassie said as Punk laughed to himself. Her humour and energy was something Punk couldn't get enough of. It was part of her little personality and he was just so in love.

"Well I'll remember all these cab rides up the stairs when you do got a bank." He told her, tucking the covers up over her.

"Are you ready to listen to my story I wrote today?" Cassie asked, reaching over for her story as Punk lay on the bed beside her.

"I've been waiting for this all day." Punk smiled, watching as she opened up the notebook.

Getting the chance to watch her grow was everything to him. He knew what it was like to miss so much, so the little things now meant just as much as the big things. He couldn't quite describe it, but days just felt more important than they ever did before.

AJ was tidying up next door in her bedroom, putting some washings away, taking opportunity of the fairly quiet house to catch up on some house work.

Although Punk hadn't moved in with them yet, he was at the house almost every day to spend time with the girls and her. Things were progressing at a steady pace. They had a date night every week and most nights he would stay over. At first it was surreal to have him around so much again, to see him putting Cassie to bed and to curl on the sofa with him at the end of the day, just like she'd dreamed about, but now it was just starting to feel like before.

She walked out of her bedroom with a washing basket, pausing outside Cassie's bedroom, looking in through the gap at the door, smiling to herself as she saw Cassie reading Punk a story as he lay beside her in bed.

The one thing she did learn over the past four months, was just how much he struggled in prison. How difficult it was and how difficult it still was even after being out. To see him seek comfort in her and the girls again was all she wanted. Once she shook the fear of losing him away, it was all love. It was always love.

She carried on downstairs, fixing a washing and heading into the living room to sit down on the sofa, flicking through the TV channels.

Not long after, Punk joined her on the sofa.

"How was the story?" AJ smiled.

"It was pretty good." Punk nodded.

"She always wants to read her stories to you and not me." AJ scoffed as Punk smiled.

"I'm a better listener." Punk teased as she nudged him.

Although they weren't living with each other as such, Punk couldn't help feel totally at peace with how things were going with his family. When he first got out of prison, he didn't even know if he had a family. To be able to bond with his daughter's again, even Thea who in her own way had let him in, it was all he could have asked for. And to be able to sit down on the sofa at the end of the day with his wife, hold her, talk to her, laugh with her… it was pretty amazing.

"There's nothing on TV." AJ shook her head, putting a random movie on.

"Where is Jude? It's getting late." Punk noted.

"It's eight thirty." AJ scoffed.

"Yeah. Late." Punk shook his head as AJ just smiled.

"I'm so proud of Thea." AJ smiled, "She's doing so good. And she wants this… I can see it."

"Yeah, it's a good thing." Punk smiled, "She doesn't give up that's for sure." He shook his head as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, she's always been like that." AJ nodded, "Remember when she used to ask us to hide her toys because she wanted to find them. She got more kicks out of that than actually playing with them." She shook her head as Punk smiled.

"I remember her doing that in the apartment." Punk nodded to himself, "I have a confession." He turned to her.

"What?" AJ said.

"Well one time she asked me to hide one of her toys and… I threw it out the window." Punk said as AJ looked at him, "I thought it'd be funny to see how long she'd keep looking for it." He shrugged as AJ gasped.

"Phil." AJ shook her head.

"What?" He laughed a little, "Dean was there too."

"Oh, of course he was." AJ nodded, "How old was she?"

"Like three." Punk nodded.

"You're evil." AJ shook her head but with a smile.

"The little angel spent the whole day looking for it. But she loved it. She thought it was this fun game. We brought it back in and hid it in the apartment. She eventually found it." Punk nodded.

"So that's what you and Dean got up to when I left you to babysit her?" AJ shook her head.

"It was funny." Punk shrugged, "I think it came back to bite me because now that girl would beat me up."

"Yeah she would." AJ agreed as he chuckled to himself, watching as she turned to him and smiled. He gave her a playful wink as she shook her head, curling into him and smiling as he wrapped an arm around her and kissed her head.

Neither had to say just how much moments like these now meant to them. They both just knew it.

* * *

"_April, come take a seat." The principal sat behind his desk as sixteen year old AJ walked into the office, looking over at sixteen year old Punk who sat slouched on the chair. She watched as he turned around, smiling to her as she smiled back. She'd only known him for a few weeks, but she knew enough to know she liked him. _

"_You both have missed thirteen biology classes." The principal said, "We've been back fourteen weeks." He raised a brow as Punk leaned back on the chair and yawned deliberately, "Mister Brooks, am I boring you?"_

"_Yes." Punk nodded as AJ looked over at him. His boldness was hard not to take notice of. _

"_Why have you both missed so many classes?" The principal asked._

"_Because we don't wanna sit in biology on a Friday afternoon." AJ shrugged as Punk looked over at her, smiling to himself._

"_Oh, really?" The principal questioned._

"_Really." AJ nodded. Something dangerous happened when she was with Punk. The most confident parts of herself just flourished, because he made her feel comfortable and free enough to do so. _

"_Do you wanna be a biologist?" Punk asked AJ._

"_No, do you?" She asked him, both of them knowing exactly what they were doing._

"_I don't." Punk shook his head._

"_I rest my case." AJ nodded, "Waste of time." _

"_I think perhaps I will be calling both your parents." The principal nodded as Punk chuckled._

"_Well you definitely won't reach mine. Better luck driving to a street corner to find my mom." Punk assured him as the principal raised his eyebrows._

"_Yeah, you don't wanna call my mom." AJ shook her head, "She's scarier than his box dye blonde hair." She pointed._

"_Hey, you said you liked it." Punk turned to her._

"_I do, but it is kinda scary." AJ shrugged._

"_Good scary?" Punk smiled._

"_Excuse me." The principal said, "Am I interrupting you both?" He shook his head as they looked at each other and both nodded, "Right… you're both suspended for three days." He waved his hand, "After that it'll be another suspension, after that you're out the door." He explained, "So I'd start rethinking how important your Friday afternoons are, Miss Mendez."_

"_Oh, they're very important." AJ nodded to him as Punk looked over at her, smiling. _

"_I assume staying in education is also important to you? Both of you?" He questioned as they both looked at one another and shrugged._

"_I think we'll end up where we end up." Punk shrugged as AJ looked over at him, watching as he winked to her playfully as she smirked._

"_Alright, both of you out of my office." He waved his hand as Punk stood up, heading over to the door with AJ._

"_Ladies first." Punk opened the door for her as AJ smiled._

"_Thank you." AJ nodded to him, walking out of the office as Punk followed, blowing the principal a kiss before leaving._


	92. Back In

**Back In**

* * *

"What are you looking at?" Jude shook her head, sitting at breakfast the next morning, eating her cereal whilst Punk sat across staring at her. Sometimes he joined them for breakfast if he had stayed over, and would take the girls to school.

"Nothing." Punk shook his head, playing with his cereal like a child.

"Well can you stop staring?" Jude asked, "It's rude." She nodded as Punk rolled his eyes, looking back over to her as Jude caught him, "Dad?" She shook her head with confusion.

"What age is Thomas?" Punk asked, not being able to help himself as Jude raised her eyebrows.

"W-What?" Jude shook her head, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, I know. Don't play dumb." Punk said, "What age is he? Is he your age?" He asked.

"Who told you?" Jude questioned.

"Your mom and Thea." Punk said as Jude rolled her eyes, "Well?"

"Yes, he's my age." Jude scoffed, shaking her head and looking down at her cereal awkwardly as Punk looked at her. He sighed to himself as he watched her avoid looking up. He didn't want to be the dad that put fear in his daughters for anything. He always wanted them to talk to him about anything. He just felt so protective of them, it was difficult not to worry.

"So… did you have a good time?" Punk asked casually as Jude looked up at him.

Of all the things she expected him to say, that wasn't it. She thought he'd freak out a hell of a lot more.

"Yeah, it was ok." Jude shrugged as Punk nodded.

"Just ok?" He asked.

"Yeah well it was a movie so… not a lot of talking." Jude nodded.

"Well are you going out again?" Punk asked her as she nodded.

"Yeah, next week." Jude said as Punk nodded, "I can't believe mom and Thea told you."

"Hey, it's nothing you gotta keep from me. I get it. You're growing up. Any time I make a fuss it's only because I care." He assured her.

"I know." Jude nodded with a smile, "Are you coming over tonight?" She asked him.

She was so happy to see her father around the house more, and to see her parents back together. Even if they weren't spending every day together and he wasn't moving back in yet, it still meant a huge deal to have him around more frequently.

"Well I'm picking Cassie up from school and taking her to soccer practise so when I drop her off I'll come in for a little bit." Punk nodded.

"Where is Thea?" Jude asked.

"She stayed with Dominic last night." Punk said.

"So that you don't freak out at but I go to the movies with someone and I get stared out during breakfast?" Jude questioned.

"Well I know Dominic. And your sister is also twenty-one. Doesn't mean I don't still worry but… she's older." He shrugged as Jude scoffed.

"When are you just gonna move back in?" Jude asked, "I mean you're here almost every night anyway."

"I don't know. We're not rushing anything. Taking each day as it comes, and that's working for us." Punk nodded.

"I'll be honest… when you first got out I never thought we'd get to this." Jude admitted as Punk nodded. He could always talk to Jude about the difficulties he'd faced. It wasn't because she was any easier to talk to than Thea or even AJ, it was just their thing. He wouldn't ever forget that she was the one waiting on him the very first day he got out of prison.

"You and me both." Punk nodded, "It's honestly just starting to sink in." He admitted. It was sill surreal that he was out. He was sure that was a feeling he'd never quite shake. Being shut off for so long, he knew it would live with him forever.

"Dad I'm ready to go." Cassie said, walking into the kitchen. AJ had left for work early which meant he was taking them both to school.

"Ok, mom left you out an old bookbag since your other one snapped." Punk explained as Cassie walked over.

"This is ugly." Cassie looked at the bookbag, "I'm not using that." She said as Jude turned to her.

"There's nothing wrong with it." Jude shook her head.

"It's ugly I don't like it." Cassie said.

"I will go out and buy you a new one today." Punk told her, "You just gotta make do with this one. Just for one day." He nodded as Cassie huffed.

"You're such a little drama queen." Jude shook her head as Cassie took the bookbag, flicking her hair sassily and walking out of the kitchen.

"We better get going." Punk chuckled.

* * *

"I gotta go to work." Dominic said, lying in bed with Thea in his room at his house.

"No." Thea mumbled, further wrapping herself around him as he laughed, "Just five more minutes." She whispered.

"I'll be late." Dominic said.

"Do you really need a job?" Thea teased as Dominic smiled.

"I'd say so, yeah." Dominic nodded as Thea sighed.

Her relationship with him was just different. She felt like she could be entirely herself around him. And it didn't feel like she was dating a boy or having a youthful fling with someone that she'd end up breaking up with. He took her to dinner on dates. He cooked if she was at his house. He was a gentleman. So caring and understanding. And it meant a lot that she could share the struggles of addiction with someone who knew exactly what it felt like.

"Dinner was so nice last night but I think my parents were bummed they couldn't celebrate with me." Thea admitted.

"You can celebrate with them tonight." Dominic suggested as Thea nodded, "I'm just really happy for you. It was a huge decision."

"It was." Thea nodded, "But I want the challenge and I think I can do it-"

"I know you can." Dominic nodded as Thea smiled. Being with Dominic made her realise all the things that were missing from her and Jackson's relationship. The support she got from Dominic was incredible. He really listened to all her stresses, even the small ones that didn't make sense. She felt lucky to have met him and glad that she had let him into her life like this.

"It's gonna be a lot of hard work." Thea nodded.

"Which you're no stranger to." Dominic reminded her as she smiled up at him.

"When do you finish tonight?" Thea asked, kissing his neck as he smiled.

"I should get off at eight." Dominic nodded.

"And then when do you get me off?" She smirked as he chuckled.

"As quickly as you can get your ass back here." He smiled as she looked up at him, pressing her lips against his as he kissed back passionately, pulling her on top of him as she smirked against his lips.

"I know you got five minutes to spare." She whispered, kissing his neck.

"Maybe." Dominic smiled.

"Or ten." She smirked as he flipped them over, leaning over her as she giggled, wrapping her arms and legs around him.

She didn't know what she would have done without him these past few months.

* * *

"Knock knock." Punk knocked on AJ's office door as he walked on in.

"Hey." AJ smiled at the pleasant surprise, standing up and bunching some files together, "What are you doing here?" She asked, noticing he was holding a bag.

"Well…since it's way past dinner, I thought I would bring dinner to you." He lifted the bag, "Your favourite sandwich from Perry's. Raspberry slush." He held up the drink, "And there's a muffin in there for later." He nodded as AJ smiled.

"You didn't have to do this." AJ shook her head.

"Well I know you're busy." Punk shrugged.

"That I am." AJ nodded, "One of those days where I feel like I've been going around in circles." She shook her head, dumping a folder down on the floor, "Who is with the girls?" She questioned.

"Well Thea is home for the night." Punk said, "I picked Cass up from school. Got her a new bag by the way." He added, "Took her to practise and dropped her off. Went in and made them dinner. Thea got home and said she would watch them both." He said as AJ nodded.

"That was nice of her." AJ said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah. Out of character, right?" He teased as AJ scoffed.

"Mean." AJ nodded to him, clearing her desk as he unpacked the sandwiches, "How was Cass at practise?"

"She was good. She looked exhausted after it. She always gives it like one hundred and ten percent. Bless her." Punk shook his head as AJ smiled and nodded.

The best thing about all of this was getting to share time with someone again. Getting that breather and that moment of relief where she could forget about what was going on, forget about the day-to-day stresses, and just talk to him. Having that back in her life was so important to her. Having her best friend back in her life made a huge difference.

"Oh, this smells so good." AJ groaned, taking a seat and unwrapping the sandwich as Punk sat across from her and nodded.

"I know it was so hard not to eat mine on the way here." He shook his head as she smiled, "So I spoke to Jude this morning."

"What'd you say?" AJ asked suspiciously, tucking into her sandwich. She didn't realise just how hungry she was until the glorious smell hit her.

"I was calm. I just asked her if she had a good time." Punk shrugged, "And I think she did." He nodded.

"Do you remember our first date?" AJ smiled as Punk nodded to himself, "Took me for a burger and we wound up having to do the dishes at the diner because we didn't have money to pay for it."

"Well… at least it was memorable." Punk chuckled to himself as AJ nodded with a smile.

It was still incredibly challenging at times, because nothing was hiding the fact he had missed eight years of life with her and their children. Working on pushing her fear away was only the beginning, but they were figuring it out together, taking each day as it came.

Getting to go on dates with him again, wake up to him some mornings, have conversations about the girls as parents again, it was all things she'd almost forgot how wonderful the feeling was to have. Gaining that back one by one was magical.

"This is so damn good." AJ smiled, "Just what I needed."

"You had a long day?" Punk asked her.

"I was in a meeting all morning and afternoon. Then I got out and had all this paper work." She shook her head, "I think I got on top of it, though."

"When did you start going back working full time here?" Punk asked. He was still learning things from when he was gone. Learning what happened and what he missed. And in return, AJ was learning a lot about his time in prison, which was proven to be a little more difficult to hear.

"When Thea was old enough to watch the girls." AJ nodded, "But then again I was back and forth when she was in hospital. I was just doing part-time for a while because I wanted to be there for her." She said, "It wasn't until the last year or so that I've been actually consistently doing full-time." She said, "But I like it. It keeps my mind busy."

"Well you seem to be an important lady around here." He nodded as she smiled.

"Thank you for bringing this and… coming to see me." AJ smiled, "This stuff means a lot to me." She told him.

"And me." Punk assured her as she smiled, leaning over the desk and kissing him sweetly. Kissing him. Yeah, she'd missed that a whole lot.


	93. Job

**Job**

* * *

"Let me get this straight." Punk paused, wiping his hands on a cloth as he looked at Thea who had come to see him at work, "You want a job… here?" He questioned.

"Yes." Thea nodded, "Just for the Summer. My placement starts end of October so something until then to keep me busy."

"Wouldn't you wanna work someplace else?" Punk asked her, "It's a lot of heavy lifting and moving on the go here." He said as Thea scoffed.

"Look at these." Thea held her arms up and flexed as Punk looked at her.

"What am I looking at?" He teased as she pushed him.

"Come on, I can do this. It looks fun down here. You get to be outside all the time. The boats are super cool." Thea shrugged, "The pay is half decent."

"Wouldn't you rather get a job in retail or something?" Punk shrugged, "Or maybe your mom could see about an office job at her work-"

"If I wanted a job elsewhere that's where I'd go." Thea said, "It's just until my placement starts." She shrugged as Punk looked at her.

"There's no slacking off with this job." Punk said.

"Do I look like the type to slack off?" Thea raised her eyebrows.

"How about I give you a trial for the day." Punk said, "You roll your sleeves up and you do a full day's work with me. If by the end of it you're still serious about it… I'll talk to Kofi. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to give you something."

"Fine." Thea smiled, tying her long dark hair up with the band on her wrist, "So what are we doing first?" She asked him as Punk watched her.

"Alright." Punk nodded to himself. This wasn't how he thought his day would go, "I'm in the process of moving these sandbags to the end of the boardwalk." He pointed, "So you can help me with that first and then I'll show you the process with the boats."

"Ok." Thea nodded, watching as he lifted a sandbag, putting it over his shoulder, picking up another one and flinging it on top as she watched.

"I'd start with one." Punk nodded to her.

"Oh, you think I can't handle two?" Thea challenged, walking over to the pile of sandbags, grabbing one of them and attempting to lift it. She wasn't prepared for how heavy they were, and couldn't understand how he had managed to pick up two.

"You ok there?" Punk watched her struggling to lift the sandbag, pulling with all her might.

"Can I drag it?" Thea put her hands on her hips, already out of breath from trying to pull the sandbag up.

"You drag it and it'll rip on the boardwalk. Sand will go everywhere." Punk said, "Ok, just… start tying those boats up over there. Double knots." He pointed.

"So like… tied up twice?" Thea asked as Punk looked at her.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "Double."

"Ok." Thea made a funny face at him as he rolled his eyes.

"You look like a donkey." She scoffed.

"A donkey that can lift more than you." Punk scoffed, walking away as Thea folded her arms but with a small smile.

* * *

"Thea! What the hell is this?" Punk put his hands on his hips, looking on at one of the boats which had been tied up very loosely, "In about an hour this thing will be sailing down the Chicago river." He shook his head, pulling the rope tightly as Thea walked over.

"I tied it tight." Thea shook her head.

"You gotta pull it all the way in." Punk nodded, "Here." He passed her the rope, watching her try and pull the boat in, "Where are those muscles you were telling me about?" He asked as Thea glared at him, yanking the rope up.

"There." Thea said, pulling the rope around the metal post as Punk watched.

"Ok, double knot." Punk nodded to her, watching her struggle to knot it, "Ok, let me show you an easy way to do it." He said, crouching down as she crouched beside him, "Grab it by the end and make a knot at the very top." He showed her, "Then push it all the way down to the post." He said as Thea watched.

"Oh, ok." Thea nodded.

"Yeah?" He showed her.

"Ok, I got it." Thea said, running over to the next one, pulling the rope tighter and doing exactly what he showed her as he watched.

"Ok, do the rest of this row, make sure they're real tight." He said as she nodded.

"Hey." Dean crept up behind Punk, "What is Thea doing here?" Dean noticed.

"She's on job trial." Punk said as Dean looked at him.

"What?" Dean laughed.

"Her college placement doesn't start until the end of October so she's looking for a job until then. She… she came here first." Punk shrugged.

"Why the hell wold she wanna work down here?" Dean scoffed as Punk shrugged.

"I have no clue but she's keen." Punk nodded, looking over at Thea who was sitting down on the boardwalk, pushing her feet against the post and pulling the rope to get more strength from her arms.

"Is she insane?" Dean looked at her.

"Maybe. But we could use an extra set of hands around here." Punk nodded, "I told her I'd let her test things out today and if by the end of it she still wants a job I'll talk to Kofi."

"She won't make it past twelve." Dean scoffed.

"This person was cooked in April's womb. She'll be here until clocking out." Punk shook his head as Dean nodded, watching as Thea tripped up over one of the ropes.

"I'm ok." Thea called them as they both watched nervously.

* * *

"What the hell is this?" Thea asked, spraying the boardwalk after lunch with Punk.

"Stops the wood from rotting." Punk told her.

"You do this every day?" Thea questioned.

"Yeah." Punk chuckled, "Boring, huh?"

"Yeah." Thea nodded.

"Don't miss any planks." Punk reminded her.

"What did you want to be when you were a little boy?" Thea wondered, "Surely it wasn't this." She shook her head.

"I never really had a career aspiration." Punk shrugged, "My childhood was pretty much… making it through each day, one at a time." He nodded.

"Sounds like self-pity." Thea hummed as Punk nodded.

"Maybe it is." Punk said, "Once this spray sets we're gonna paint this. It needs a new coating." He told her.

"You paint this every day?" Thea shook her head.

"No." Punk chuckled, "I was supposed to do it yesterday but I ran out of time." He said.

"This is right up Jude's street." Thea said as Punk nodded, "Is that you finished after the painting?" She asked him.

"No." Punk chuckled, "I work until 7." He shook his head.

"You started at 8. That's a twelve hour shift." She looked at him.

"See, you're good with numbers. Retail would be better for you." Punk nodded, getting to his feet as Thea huffed, stubbornly continuing to spray the wood as Punk watched her with a smile.

"How is clumsy doing?" Dean asked, walking by Punk who was collecting the paint.

"Thought we were finishing soon." Punk chuckled.

"Sweet girl." Dean shook his head as Punk nodded, "You wanna take care of the boats today and I'll get the pier fixed up. We're starting the extension." He said, carrying some tools.

"Yeah, you get on with that. I'll get the boats covered up for the night." He said as Dean nodded, walking on by as Punk grabbed the paint and brushes.

"Don't you get bored doing this?" Thea asked him as he sat down the paint and brushes.

"Sometimes. Depends what I'm doing." Punk said, "Some days I'll be working with Dean so it's always fun. We're working on an extension over there at the pier." He pointed as Thea looked over, "And then other days it's more labour work like this. It's a good balance." He said as Thea nodded.

"At least you're always busy." Thea said as Punk nodded.

"So why did you wanna come work here?" Punk asked curiously, opening up the paint and handing her a brush.

"Well I figured it's like proper work." Thea shrugged, "Kind of work that makes you sweat and hurts your back." She said as Punk chuckled.

"And that's what you wanted to do?" Punk laughed.

"Yeah, why not?" Thea said, "I like challenges." She nodded, "Dominic laughed at me when I said I wanted to try it-"

"So that's made you wanna do it even more?" Punk figured as she nodded.

"You know me. I like to prove people wrong." She smiled as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, I know." He smiled, watching her painting carefully. Secretly he was thrilled she was with him and wanted to spend more time with him. Their relationship was still distant at times. He figured it was still taking it's time to heal, and this was definitely helping it.

* * *

"Ok, all of these boats need covered up so we climb on them, grab the cover from the back and move side to side on the boat to cover it all." Punk said as Thea nodded, rolling her sleeves up and adjusting her jorts, tightening her messy ponytail.

"Ok." Thea nodded, climbing onto the first boat, jumping down into it and walking to the end as Punk watched, "Where is the cover?"

"The very back." Punk nodded.

"She's still here?" Dean chuckled, walking on over as Punk nodded.

"Yeah. We got the entire boardwalk painted." Punk said.

"I can see that. She's got pain all over her." Dean noticed as Punk nodded.

"I can't find the cover." Thea called to him.

"It'll be at the back." Punk hummed as Thea climbed up onto the back of the boat.

"How is the Pier going?" Punk asked Dean.

"We're just figuring out a plan and getting everything in place. Gonna take a few weeks." Dean explained as Punk nodded.

"I thought it would, looking at the prints for it yesterday-" Punk turned around, watching Thea loose her balance on the end of the boat, trying to reach out for the mast to grab onto but not reaching it in time.

"Ahh!" Thea squealed, falling off the boat.

"Thea!" Punk yelled, jumping onto the boat as Dean followed, running down to the back of the boat, looking over as Thea was in the water.

"Oh my God, this is so cold." Thea moaned painfully.

"Give me your hand." Punk shook his head, leaning over the end of the boat, extending his hand down and immediately pulling her up, getting her back onto the boat.

"Here." Dean walked over with some towels as Thea stood, water dripping from her, completely soaking.

"You ok?" Punk asked her, "Did you hurt yourself?" He asked.

"No." Thea shook her head, shivering a little, wrapping the towel around herself.

"You sure?" Punk inspected her as she nodded.

"Yeah." Thea assured them, "So where is this cover?" She looked around curiously as Punk turned to Dean who just laughed.

* * *

"What the hell happened to you?" AJ shook her head, sitting in the kitchen with Jude who dropped a piece of garlic bread out of her hand, staring at her sister who walked into the kitchen with Punk.

"You look like a drowned rat." Jude chuckled as Thea folded her arms.

She was still damp from falling in the water, clothes and hair. Paint was all over her arms and legs, and her t-shirt had a slight rip in it.

"What happened?" AJ shook her head, looking at Punk.

"Someone got a job today." Punk smiled as Thea nodded happily as Jude shook her head.

"Doing what? Life guard?" Jude shook her head as Thea stuck her middle finger up at her.

"Jude has a point. Doing what?" AJ laughed a little. She couldn't exactly figure it out.

"Working at the docks." Thea nodded tiredly. She felt like she was going to fall asleep standing up after the day she'd had.

"With your dad?" AJ questioned.

"Yeah." Thea nodded, "It's fun and I… it's challenging." She nodded.

"But… why are you wet-"

"That doesn't matter." Thea said quickly as AJ raised her eyebrows, "I needed a job until I start my placement so-"

"You won't last a day working." Jude scoffed, amused at this.

"I already did." Thea batted back, "And I'm back tomorrow. I start at nine." She smiled proudly as AJ nodded slowly.

"O-Ok." AJ nodded, certainly not expecting this.

"I'm going to take a shower and… probably go to bed." Thea nodded tiredly as Punk smiled a little, "I'll see you tomorrow." Thea pointed to Punk who nodded.

"Get that beauty sleep." Punk nodded, watching her walk out of the kitchen and head upstairs.

"She's serious about this?" AJ asked Punk who nodded.

"Yeah, she wants a job." Punk shrugged, "She's not all that bad either. Little clumsy but… that's not something you can really fix." He said as Jude chuckled, "You're pretty clumsy too." He nodded to her as Jude made a face at him.

"God, just keep her safe." AJ shook her head as Punk just chuckled to himself and nodded.

"Yes, boss." Punk smiled, "How are you two anyway?" He asked, getting a drink from the fridge and sitting down at the table with them.


	94. Being There

**Being There**

* * *

"Hey, Phil." Dominic approached Punk at work.

"Hey, what's up?" Punk nodded.

"Looking for Thea." Dominic nodded.

"Over there." Punk pointed as Dominic looked over, watching Thea pulling the cover over a boat, hanging from one of the poles as Dominic chuckled to himself, "She's been trying to cover that boat for about forty minutes now." He said as Dominic smiled.

"She likes to do everything the hard way." Dominic nodded.

"She sure does." Punk nodded.

"Here." Dominic passed him over an envelope, "They've started coming to my house too." He told him as Punk took the envelope which had the prison stamp at the bottom.

"Return to sender." Punk told him, passing it back to him, "And make sure she doesn't see it."

"You don't wanna read it?" Dominic asked.

"No, I don't think it's worth any of our time. Especially not Thea's." Punk said as Dominic nodded.

"Are they still coming to her house?" He asked.

"Yeah, April has been returning them." Punk said as Dominic nodded.

"I feel like she'll be mad if we don't tell her." Dominic said, looking over at Thea.

"She's doing good. She's moving on. This shit makes it more difficult to do that and that prick in prison knows that." Punk shook his head as Dominic nodded.

"Don't like hiding it from her, though." Dominic said.

"Yeah and neither do I but she doesn't need this shit." Punk shook his head.

"Hey." Thea noticed Dominic, hopping off the boat, tripping up over one of the ropes as Dominic cringed.

"Has she always been this clumsy?" Dominic whispered, watching Thea get back to her feet.

"Oh, yeah." Punk nodded.

"Hey." Thea smiled, walking over to them, dusting her hands off of each other.

"Hey, how's it going?" Dominic asked, "Hustling hard?" He said as Thea nodded.

"Yeah." Thea nodded, "What you doing here?" She asked.

"See if you wanna grab lunch?" Dominic asked.

"Oh, yeah. That'd be good." Thea nodded, turning to Punk, "Can I?"

"Yeah, sure. Back in an hour." He nodded to her as she smiled, "We got more work to do." He said, walking away.

"So what's it like working with him?" Dominic asked Thea, climbing up the ladder as they walked towards the car.

"It's not the worst." Thea nodded, "He's actually a pretty good teacher." She admitted, "But I won't be admitting that to his face."

"I think it's great you're working down there. I bet it ain't easy." Dominic shook his head. He loved her crazy impulses. The way she made decisions erratically, but for the right reasons. He thought it was great and inspired.

"It's not. But since I'm gonna be shackled by doctor activities soon, I wanted to do something fun and different." She shrugged as Dominic nodded.

"I think it's great." Dominic smiled, wrapping his arm around her and kissing her head as Thea smiled.

"Where are you taking me?" Thea smiled.

It was just different with Dominic. They took care of each other and looked out for each other. It was the first time in her life where she did feel safe and taken care of by someone she was romantically seeing.

"Wherever you wanna go." Dominic nodded as Thea smiled.

* * *

"He's sending them to Dominic's house now." Punk told AJ later that night, clearing the dinner table after the girls had finished dinner. He'd come around to have dinner and spend the night with the girls.

"Seriously?" AJ looked over at him as Punk nodded.

"Yeah." Punk said, "I told Dominic just to return to sender. Don't bother telling Thea." Punk nodded, "It's a waste of her time, waste of all our time to be feeding into his mind games." He said, "He's gone. That means he stays gone."

"I hate him." AJ shook her head as Punk nodded.

"Ignore it. He will eventually give up." Punk nodded, "I just don't want Thea reading any of it, because you know she'll start thinking about it again and she's doing so well. I don't want anything to spoil this for her."

"I know." AJ sighed, "I know." She nodded.

"What was up with Jude at dinner?" Punk asked, standing beside her doing the dishes.

"I have no idea." AJ shook her head.

"She was so quiet." Punk said, suspecting something, "You think she had a bad day at school?"

"Well when I picked her up I asked her how her day was and she said it was ok." AJ shrugged, "And then I asked her what she did and she told me. She just seems kinda down." AJ agreed with him, "Could just be… hormones." AJ shrugged.

"Too much of that in this house." Punk groaned as AJ smiled.

"I can't disagree." She nodded, "How is Thea doing at work?"

"She's actually doing pretty good." Punk nodded, "I mean she's slumsy as hell. Like watching Bambi learn how to walk sometimes." He shook his head as AJ chuckled, "But she's a hustler."

"Yeah, she gets that from you." AJ smiled, "I think she just wants to do something different before she's on placement."

"Yeah, I get it." Punk nodded, "When is Cassie's last football game again?" He asked her.

"Next Saturday." AJ said, "She's so bummed that it's the end of the season. She gets so bored around this time. Kid has too much energy." She shook her head as Punk chuckled.

"No such thing." Punk said, "She'll channel it into something else I'm sure." He nodded to her as AJ smiled, looking at him.

"It's so weird sometimes." AJ shook her head.

"What?" Punk asked.

"You being here." AJ said, "I… I feel like it's not really gonna sink in. Not for a long time anyway." She said as he nodded.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Punk nodded.

"Do you think it's nature telling us that no matter what… we're just gonna end up back together?" She asked him, passing him a plate to dry.

"Maybe." Punk nodded, "I don't know… I don't think you can have what we have, go through what we've went through… and go separate ways after it all." He said as AJ nodded.

"You definitely can't." AJ smiled up at him. They were living proof of that. Strike away the fear they both had, and it always just came back to them. Just being able to casually talk to each other again was something they both cherished. AJ hadn't felt this much peace in so long, and she knew it was because she had her best-friend, her soul mate, back in her life again.

"Am I… staying tonight?" Punk smiled down at her as she nodded, looking down.

"Yeah. Yeah, I think so." She smiled to herself as he nodded, nudging into her playfully as she nudged back, splashing him with some water from the sink as he splashed her back, going back and forth with each other until AJ really got him soaking wet with a splash of water.

"Ok, you're gonna get it now." Punk nodded, wrapping his arm around her waist as she squealed, trying to escape him as he spun her around, trying to splash her face as she giggled in his arms.

Cassie ran into the kitchen after hearing all the commotion, wanting in on the fun she saw her parents having.

"Hey!" Cassie giggled.

"Oh, you want some too?" Punk questioned as she squealed, running away from him around the kitchen as he got a hold of her around the waist, spinning her around as AJ chuckled, trying to splash Punk as was Cassie.

Thea had come downstairs, walking slowly towards the kitchen and pausing at the door as she watched her parents having fun with Cassie. She smiled to herself at what was a very warm and comforting sight.

No matter what had happened, to see her parents both happy was important to her. To see that weight lifted from her mother's shoulders was like a breath of fresh air. To see her father adapting back into their life was wonderful. And watching Cassie get to experience a loving home, with two parents who of course loved one another, it was a nice feeling.

She left them to their fun, walking into the living room where Jude was sitting watching TV.

"Hey." Thea smiled as Jude nodded to her, "You ok?" She asked as Jude nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Jude said vaguely.

"You sure?" Thea asked, looking over at her sister who nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Jude nodded to her as Thea smiled and nodded..

"Ok." Thea smiled, leaving the living room as Jude leaned her head back on the couch and looked over at the TV.

* * *

Later that night, Punk had put Cassie to bed and Thea had gone out with Dominic to see a late night movie. Even AJ could notice just how happy Thea was with Dominic, and how well he treated her. As a mother, it was a relief.

AJ was finishing up some work in the kitchen whilst Punk had gone into the living room where Jude was still sitting, where she had been for most of the night.

"Hey, you." Punk nodded, sitting down on the couch beside her.

"Hey." Jude said tiredly as Punk turned to her.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Punk asked her. He could sense these things, especially from Jude.

"Nothing." Jude shrugged as Punk looked at her.

"Jude." Punk looked at her, "Come on. You've been quiet all night. Barely said a word." He said, "You have a bad day at school or something? Talk to me about it." He encouraged as Jude shook her head.

"School was fine." Jude assured him as Punk looked at her sitting beside him.

"So what's up? You're sad about something." Punk said as Jude shook her head, "You are." Punk said.

"I'm not." Jude said defensively.

"Is this about this boy?" Punk asked her as she shook her head, looking over at the TV, "Jude… you can talk to me. Come on. Don't… Don't keep things to yourself." He said as she looked over at the TV.

"I got dumped." Jude said as Punk raised his eyebrows, looking at her.

"What?" Punk shook his head, "W-What? Why?" He shook his head.

"We were out last week at a… a party." Jude shook her head, "He took me into this room-"

"Woah." Punk covered his ears, "No, I don't… I don't wanna hear that." He shook his head, "You didn't…"

"No." Jude shook her head, looking at him, "That's why he dumped me." She said tearfully as Punk sighed.

"Jude." Punk sighed, wrapping his arm around her as she cried a little, "Hey, it's ok." He sighed, hugging her tightly, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

"It's embarrassing." Jude cried.

"Hey no… no it's not." Punk shook his head, "You did the right thing. And fuck that boy. Whoever he is." He said, "I hate to say it but there's a ton of them out there. It's your decision and no one else's." Punk nodded to her, "His fucking loss." He said as Jude sighed.

She hugged into him tightly as he kept his arms around her. Being able to be there for the good times again was important to him, but being there for the bad was equally as important. He missed out on so much time where he knew his arms were needed for hugs. Where his shoulder was needed to cry on. He would never miss that ever again.

"It's ok." Punk soothed softly, kissing her head.


	95. Back To You

**Back To You**

* * *

"Why wouldn't she talk to me about that?" AJ shook her head, lying in bed with Punk later that night, "And why…" She propped herself up on her elbows, turning her head to look down at him, "Why do our daughter's attract assholes?" She asked as Punk nodded.

"I have no idea." Punk said.

"I can't believe he did that to her." AJ sighed, collapsing back down, "She must feel so down and low." She shook her head.

"I talked to her for a little bit. She seemed better once she talked to me about it." Punk said, "She said she didn't really like him that much anyway but I don't know if she's just saying that." Punk shrugged.

"Well of course she is. No one wants to admit their feelings are hurt. Especially not by a boy." She scoffed, "I swear today's youth is just… it's getting worse." AJ shook her head as Punk nodded.

"It's always been like that." Punk shook his head, "It's hard to pick out the decent people from the ones who are just in shit for themselves. Whether it's jobs, for money, for sex. Everyone is super selfish these days. You notice it more when you spend eight years in a cell." He said.

"I bet." AJ sighed, "Poor Jude." AJ shook her head, running her hand through her hair and sighing, "I'm glad she told you, though." She nodded to Punk.

"I knew there was something wrong with her." Punk nodded, "And I had a feeling it was to do with that boy." He shook his head.

"Should I have questioned her more about it?" AJ wondered to herself.

"No… no, hey we can't criticise ourselves, we can't know everything that's going on with them. Especially Jude and Thea. They're growing up." Punk said, "Jude seemed a lot better when she talked to me and told me. And then we watched a movie."

"It's not affecting her school life, is it?" AJ asked.

"No, I asked her all of that and she said no, it's fine. He never did anything publicly, she just heard off of one of his friends about why he dumped her-"

"Uh I wouldn't get tired of beating him." AJ spat angrily, "If we had a son, I'd be doing everything I can to make sure he didn't treat girls like that." She said as Punk nodded.

"We got cursed with girls instead." Punk teased as AJ shook her head.

"You love it." AJ shook her head as Punk smiled, "How insane is it that Thea could be getting married in a few years?"

"April." Punk groaned.

"She could." AJ said, "She's twenty two next month."

"What if she doesn't want to get married?" Punk shrugged.

"Please." AJ laughed, "A day where it's all about her? Thea wants to get married." AJ nodded.

"Well I for one think it's good she's focusing on her career right now." Punk nodded to himself.

"Yeah, right." AJ chuckled, "Anything to postpone that engagement ring."

"She's only been with Dominic for a few months. You're jumping way ahead." Punk shook his head.

"Well she told me last week that she actually thinks about those things now. Marriage and kids. Said when she was with Jackson she never thought about any of that with him-"

"She said that?" Punk asked worriedly as Punk nodded.

"All I want is for them to be happy. All three of them. In whatever way they want." AJ said.

"Yeah, of course." Punk nodded as AJ looked at him.

"Does this make you nervous?" She chuckled a little, curling into him, wrapping her leg over him.

"Well… yeah but it also makes me kinda sad." He shrugged.

"Why?" AJ frowned, brushing his hair out of his face. It's usual slicked do had come undone when she was running her hands through it earlier on.

"Well… I left and Thea was just starting high school. She still secretly liked the night light on in her room." He said, "Now… you're talking about her getting married in a few years." Punk sighed to himself as AJ's face frowned, her expression changing to that of sadness, "And I got nothing to show for any of it in between."

"I know it's hard." AJ whispered, "And it's hard because there's nothing we can do to fix it. To get back what you lost. What we lost together." She nodded.

"Even with Cass and Jude. Jude is getting older. I left and she was still falling asleep in the car when I'd drop her at school." He smiled to himself, "And I… I never even got to hold Cassie." He shook his head as AJ looked at him.

She knew he was struggling to come to terms with how much he'd lost out on, especially regarding the kids. She didn't take his mental health lightly. She knew it had to have been torture to be locked up for eight years, missing out on so much important things. She couldn't imagine being in his shoes. All she could do was help and assure him.

"I know there's nothing I can do to help. And I know it's… it's probably gonna stay with you. But there is so much positive going on right now. It started off a little unsteady, but we're only human, we were all dealing with our own shit." She said.

"I just feel like I've lost so much." Punk sighed to himself.

It was times like these, lying in bed at night, where his mind would start aggravating him. The only difference now, was that he had his wife to talk to again, and he was so grateful for that. Otherwise he knew his head would be a bigger battle.

"I know." AJ sighed, looking up at him, "But we are all so glad and so lucky that you're here now. We can make new memories that hopefully can outshine any ones that you missed." She said, cupping his cheek softly.

"I love you." Punk said as she smiled, "I feel like I've just… made you wait on me my entire life." He sighed to himself.

"Hey… no, you didn't make me do anything." AJ said, "I chose that. Maybe on the outside I tried to move on and convince myself I could get over you but… deep down I just wanted to wait." She said.

"Did you… come close?" Punk asked.

"To what? Moving on?" AJ asked as he nodded.

"Yeah." Punk said.

"I always knew that I'd end up with you, in whatever way it happened. I did go on some dates with some really nice guys." She nodded, "Polite, funny, kind and considerate." She shrugged, "But they…" She paused, looking up at him, "They weren't you." She shrugged as he smiled.

"Was the sex good?" He asked.

"Phil." AJ scoffed as Punk laughed.

"What?" Punk shrugged, "I'm just curious. Don't wanna have to live up to anything now." He said as AJ shook her head.

"You don't have to. Don't worry." AJ chuckled, "It was just… it was different. Weird."

"Was it here?" Punk asked.

"Why does it matter?" AJ shook her head, curling into him.

"It doesn't." Punk shook his head.

"For the most part it was just awkward. I knew most of them didn't even want a relationship. I don't think I even wanted one. I was just trying to tell myself I was taking steps to moving forward." She said, "Once you tell men that you have three children and your husband is in prison… they don't warm up to you that much."

"So no one was here playing step-dad?" Punk asked.

"No." AJ shook her head, "There was… one guy. Joey. I saw him a few times." AJ nodded, "He saw the girls a few times but… I later found out that he-he told Cassie that you were dead."

"He what?" Punk shook his head.

"Yeah. She asked him if he was her dad and he… I don't know he must have panicked-"

"Son of a bitch." Punk shook his head, "I'm sure he could have found something else to say."

"I know." AJ shook her head, "I hadn't spoken to Cassie about you yet. It was about a year before you got out." She said.

"So how long did you see him for?" Punk asked. He wasn't mad. Of course, internally, he was enraged that someone else got close to his wife in such ways, but he wasn't mad at her nor did he blame her.

"A few months." AJ nodded, "I just… it wasn't working. He wanted it to work but… I didn't so much." She shrugged, "Because subconsciously I knew that you were getting out soon and that I wanted you, not him." She said. Which was all true.

"Where'd you meet him?" Punk asked.

"At work." AJ said.

"Wait… so you still see this guy when you go to work?" Punk asked curiously.

"No, no he was only there temporarily. Covering a job for someone." AJ nodded.

"I won't lie to you, it's all one big fucking nightmare to me." Punk said as she chuckled a little and nodded.

"I figured it would be." She said as he nodded, "But you're the one I always wanted." She said, looking up at him as he looked down, "If anything, getting with a few guys just made it more difficult because… it reminded me of just how good we had it." She nodded, "Nothing was ever coming close to you."

"You don't have to say that just because you think it's what I wanna hear." Punk assured her.

"I'm not." AJ said, rolling over on top of him as he smiled, placing his hands on her hips, "It all just made me want you even more." She nodded as he smiled.

"Well you got me." Punk smirked as she nodded.

"Mhm." She smirked, leaning down and kissing him softly, grinding her hips against his crotch as he smiled against the kiss and rolled them over, disappearing amongst the covers with her.

* * *

"How could you not like that movie?" Thea chuckled, getting out of the car after arriving at Dominic's house which he lived in with his brother. Thea stayed at the house every now and then. It was nice to have some of their own privacy. Her own house was pretty crowded.

"It was a cliché horror." Dominic scoffed, locking his car and walking towards the house.

"No it wasn't." Thea shook her head, "It was so good. The special effects were so damn cool." She said excitedly as Dominic smiled. He loved when she let her love for weird things shine. Seeing her in all her glory was pretty cool. He loved her goofy side a whole lot.

"It didn't win me over, that's all I'm saying." Dominic shrugged, walking into the house as Thea followed.

"When the hand came out of the guy's mouth? You didn't think that was cool?" Thea questioned.

"No, I thought it was dumb." Dominic chuckled.

"No." Thea laughed, shoving him, "No, it was so cool." She took her coat off as Dominic shook his head, "Ok, well next time we'll go see a sappy love movie. Is that more up your street?" She teased.

"Hey, I love a good rom com, don't judge." Dominic shrugged.

"I know you do." Thea chuckled.

"You working tomorrow?" He asked her, walking through to the kitchen.

"No, actually. I have a day off." Thea smiled.

"Oh, really? What are you gonna do with your day?" He asked.

"I don't know. Be lazy probably." Thea said, "Stay in your bed all day." She smirked.

"Wish I could do that." Dominic scoffed as she smiled.

"Might hang with Jude too. My dad text me saying she was having boy problems and my assistance may be required." Thea shrugged.

"Boy problems?" Dominic asked.

"Yeah, I don't know." Thea shrugged, "She did seem a little deflated earlier." She said, "I don't wanna have to go beat up teenage boys but I swear if someone hurt her-"

"You should stay calm and just talk to Jude first." Dominic suggested as Thea scoffed, "I'm gonna go shower." He told her as Thea nodded.

"Ok I'm gonna get a drink. I'll be up after you." She said as he nodded, kissing her on the way out of the kitchen as she headed over to the fridge for a drink.

She took a bottle of water out, noticing something was leaking in the fridge, "Shit." Thea shook her head, sitting the bottle of water down.

She walked over to grab some paper towels, opening up one of the drawers to get it out when she came across three envelopes sitting with her name and Dominic's address. She also noticed the prison stamp at the bottom of the envelope.

She took them out, sitting down at the kitchen table and gulping as she began to open the letters up.


	96. Going Back

**Going Back**

* * *

"Hey, are you coming to bed?" Dominic walked into the kitchen where Thea was sitting. He'd already showered and was confused as to why she was still downstairs.

"Why did you keep these from me?" Thea looked up at him as Dominic looked over, suddenly noticing she had the letters from Jackson out in front of her.

"Thea." Dominic sighed.

"Why didn't you give me these letters?" Thea asked angrily, "There's three of them. They have… they have my name on it." She said.

"Look, I saw the prison stamp and I knew it'd be him. I knew he'd be trying to get into your head and… and hurt you." Dominic said, "And you've been doing so well-"

"Wy does everybody say that?" Thea stood up, "I've been doing so well? Do you have any idea how patronising it sounds?" She questioned.

"It's not patronising, it's people being happy for you." Dominic corrected, "And trying to protect you from things you don't even need to be concerned about. Like him." He pointed to the letters.

"You had no right to keep them from me." Thea shook her head, "I deserved to know he was sending them."

"I was just trying to protect you. You don't need to feed into what he's saying. I'm trying to help you move on from him. Live a life without him-"

"It's still my decision!" Thea yelled, "I still had a right to know he had sent them." She shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I just knew that he would be spewing horrible shit and I don't want you to read into it or let it get into your head." Dominic said, "I thought it would help if you didn't see them." He said as Thea shook her head angrily, "What do they even say?" He questioned.

"None of your business." Thea shook her head, grabbing her coat.

"Thea." Dominic sighed.

"I'm going home." Thea said.

"Are you kidding me?" Dominic shook his head, "Come on, I was trying to look out for you-"

"I can look out for myself." Thea spat, opening up the door and leaving the house, slamming it shut behind her as Dominic groaned, running his hands over his face and sighing.

* * *

Thea got home and headed through to the kitchen. She wasn't stupid. She knew if there were letters sent to Dominic's place, there would have been letters sent to her own house.

She began pulling out all of the drawers in the kitchen, taking everything out of them and looking in them for any letters.

Meanwhile Punk had come downstairs, putting his t-shirt on as he headed down the stairs, walking down the hallway and pausing at the kitchen where he saw Thea raiding through all the drawers.

"Thea, what are you doing?" Punk shook his head as Thea looked over at him.

"Where are they?" Thea asked.

"Where are what? I thought you were staying at Dominic's tonight?" Punk asked.

"The letters." Thea said, "Where are they?" She spat as Punk looked across at her, "Huh?" She slammed one of the drawers close, "Because if they were going to Dominic's, they were definitely coming here." She said as Punk looked across at her.

"I put them in the trash." Punk nodded to her as Thea glared across at him, "Because you don't need to see what that little bastard is saying. You don't need to let him get into your head-"

"Did you tell Dominic not to show me these?" Thea asked him suspiciously as Punk nodded.

"Yeah. I did." Punk said as Thea shook her head, "Because you're doing really good and-"

"Shut up." Thea spat as Punk looked at her, "Just shut your mouth." She nodded.

"Don't talk to me like that." Punk shook his head.

"Well then don't hide things from me as if you have any control over my life. These were addressed to me and I should have gotten the chance to see them." Thea spat, "But no… you… you had to jump in and do something about it." She nodded.

"Thea, I don't want him getting into your head. I'd hardly call me doing this the devil's work. I'm trying to help you out-"

"I can decide things on my own." Thea shook her head, "And how dare you tell Dominic to hide them from me-"

"Yeah well he agreed with me that you don't need to read them." Punk said.

"It's none of your damn business." Thea spat, "You had no right."

"Ok, then I apologise for keeping it from you. But my intentions were good-"

"Oh, of course. You're intentions are always good, aren't they?" Thea nodded to him, "You don't need to protect me from anything. I am not a little girl." She emphasised, "You got Cassie for that and maybe even Jude… but do not think you can come here and start controlling my life. Not when you've been gone for so long." She warned him.

"You're not a little girl, you're right." Punk nodded, "But sometimes you act like it." He shrugged. He wouldn't lie to her and sugar coat things.

"Excuse me?" Thea raised a brow.

"Yeah. If you had sense, if you acted your age, you wouldn't have opened those letters. Because anyone else would have realised that he's just trying to hurt you. But no… you had to open them." Punk said, "And I knew you would. So that's why I put them in the trash."

"I opened them because I was curious." Thea shook her head.

"Yeah, right." Punk scoffed, "Give me them." He walked over.

"No." Thea whined, trying to hold them back as he snatched them from her.

"Let's see what nice things he has to say to you." Punk nodded, taking the letters and looking down at them, "Oh, wow… so many things jumping out already."

"Stop it." Thea folded her arms.

"Oh, look… here's a nice one. No one will ever love you because you're weak. You attach yourself to people so quickly, because you're desperate for someone to show you attention." He looked at Thea, "Oh, look… here's another nice one. You're gonna be found dead, alone, in some bathroom with a needle in your arm, choking on your own sick." Punk said as Thea looked at him.

"These are words that mean nothing but will get in your head and hurt you, and he knows that." Punk said, "So don't act like I've not done you a favour." He said as Thea glared at him, "You don't need to read any of this."

"It's still my decision!" Thea yelled as Punk looked at her, "You more than anyone else don't get to make decisions for me." She made clear.

"I'm trying to help you. We all are." Punk made clear, "This is some horrible shit." He held the letters up, "And I don't want you reading it."

"It's not your decision." Thea said as Punk shook his head, "I am fed up of people tip toeing around me, hiding things from me, not being able to say things in front of me." She spat, "I haven't saw Sam in so long. Bumped into her yesterday and she said that she didn't want to be around me in case she was drunk or high-"

"Yea well she's got a point. She's always drunk or high." Punk shook his head.

"When I go to Dean's house, the table he had in the living room with the whiskey on it… it's gone all of a sudden." Thea said, "When there's something on the news about drugs, mom switches the channel so fast-"

"You know why? Because we all care-"

"No, you're making me feel isolated. You're drawing more attention to it all by doing that. I want to see Sam. I don't want my fun uncle to start changing what he says and does around me. I want to know how many people are dying from drug overdoses on the news. And I want the choice to read these letters if I want to!" She yelled as Punk looked at her, "Do you understand what I'm saying?" She asked as Punk looked across at her.

"You're the one who is thinking about it like that. No one does anything just because you have problems. You're just… maybe you're paranoid… maybe you're still thinking about drinking and drugs-"

"Oh, I think about it every day, don't you worry." Thea shook her head, running her hands through her hair.

"We just don't want to see you get hurt. That's not a bad thing, Thea. We're your family. And Dominic sure as hell cares about your feelings more than Jackson ever did. This proves that." Punk said as Thea shook her head.

"I'm going out." Thea shook her head.

"What? It's like 1am." Punk said, watching her walk by him out of the kitchen.

"Thea. Out where?" Punk followed her, "Hey, I'm talking to you!" He said as she walked out of the door and slammed it shut.

* * *

Thea headed out on foot, not sure where she was headed for, but knowing where she wanted to end up. Her anger had peaked into uncontrollable sadness. All she wanted was a drink.

She walked into a busy bar, making her way through people towards the bar which she sat on one of the stools and waited.

"Thea." Martin, the bar manager walked over once seeing her. He of course knew her from her times spent in the bar. Times where he had to ask her to leave when she was at her worst.

"Vodka." Thea nodded, holding her card out as Martin looked at her.

"Uh… I'm not allowed to serve you." Martin shook his head.

"Says who?" Thea scoffed as Martin looked at her.

"Your dad." Martin nodded as Thea looked at him.

"What?" Thea gritted her teeth.

"Yeah, months ago he was in. I think he was looking for you one night, whilst he was here he told me to never serve you again." Martin said as Thea shook her head, "And I don't really wanna get on his bad side."

"Then I'll go someplace else." Thea shook her head.

"I think he went to most bars in the city." Martin said as Thea shook her head, walking out of the bar and walking down the street.

She headed into another bar, walking on up to the counter.

"Vodka." Thea nodded to the bar attender.

"Thea." Rico, the bar owner noticed her, walking on over as Thea rolled her eyes, watching as he shoo'd the bar attender away.

"He was getting me a drink." Thea said.

"You know we can't serve you." Rico said as Thea glared at him.

"I have money. I would like a drink." Thea nodded.

"Your dad-"

"I don't give a shit." Thea said, "Just get me a drink-"

"Thea-"

"Get me a fucking drink!" Thea yelled as some people looked around.

Rico sighed to himself and nodded, grabbing a glass and pouring her a drink as Thea slid her card over, taking the glass and looking at it.


	97. Tears

**Tears**

* * *

"Thea!" Punk called, jogging down the street as he spotted Thea standing outside a bar, "Hey." He ran up to her, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Nothing apparently." Thea scoffed.

"Did you… have you drank anything?" Punk asked her.

"I tried. Rico thought it'd be funny to pour me a glass of water… then he threw me out because I smashed it." She shook her head, folding her arms.

"Thea, come on… you're better than this." Punk said.

"I don't wanna talk to you." Thea shook her head, walking away.

"Well tough." Punk followed her down the street, "I am not gonna watch you throw away all the hard work you've done." He said, "You don't need this, and deep down you know it." He said.

"Well even if I wanted a drink you appear to have told every bar in the city not to serve me." Thea shook her head.

"Is that really such a bad thing?" Punk asked her, walking quickly after her.

"You're so annoying." Thea shook her head.

"I'm your dad. I'm supposed to be annoying." Punk shook his head, not being able to see that she was crying as she briskly walked ahead of him, "Hey, can you just…" He took her hand and pulled her back a little, suddenly noticing she was crying, "Thea." He sighed as she dried her eyes with the side of her hands.

"Can you please just leave me alone?" Thea shook her head.

"No, of course I'm not leaving you alone." Punk said, "I know… I know it's exhausting and you're in a fight with your own self all the time but you're way stronger than you think." He nodded as she continued to dry her eyes, "Come here." He sighed, wrapping his arms around her as she hugged into him.

"I just don't wanna feel like this." Thea cried as he nodded.

"I know you don't." Punk nodded, kissing her head. It broke his heart. He didn't know what it felt like to be an addict of anything, but to see his daughter go through it, he couldn't imagine the struggles and pain it caused. He wished he could do something to help her.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you." Thea sighed, stepping back, "But I just want people to stop treating me like an addict and just… a normal person." She shook her head, "It's like everyone is scared of constantly tipping me over the edge." She sighed.

He understood what she meant, and he knew there was always ways they could all help more and do better.

"I know, I get it." Punk nodded, "And look, maybe I should have just told you about the letters. I just knew they'd be cruel and horrible, and I didn't want you reading into it and letting it affect you in anyway. And I know Dominic felt the same way so… don't… please don't be mad at him." He shook his head as Thea sighed.

"Why is he even writing to me?" Thea threw her hands up, "What does he get out of it?"

"This." Punk pointed to her as she dried her tears, "He knows you, obviously. And he knows that you'd react like this to what he said in those letters. Which are all bullshit, by the way." Punk nodded, "It's not worth your time. He is not worth your time." He promised as Thea sighed to herself.

"He's gonna get out of prison one day and just come kill me, isn't he?" Thea rolled her eyes, her dark humour coming through as Punk scoffed.

"No. He's not." Punk shook his head, "He's in there for ten years. You're gonna be in your thirties. Maybe you'll be… married, I don't know." He shrugged as Thea looked at him.

"Don't look too excited about that." Thea scoffed.

"My point is, your life will be completely different. Good different." Punk nodded.

"I'll still be an addict." Thea shrugged.

"You can't look at it like that." Punk shook his head, "You're way stronger than you think. You set out tonight to have a drink and did you get one?"

"I would if someone served me." Thea shook her head.

"And what about all the twenty-four hour stores that you could have gotten drink from? You must have passed a dozen on your way here." He pointed out to her as she thought herself.

"Maybe." She looked behind her.

"Come on. Let's go… get a soda or something." He nodded to her as she nodded, walking with him down the street.

They walked all the way into another part of town, finding a late night diner and heading on inside. Punk knew all the late night spots, because he spent some time sleeping in them at times, and waiting out the homelessness with his brother and AJ.

"Sam." Thea noticed, walking into the dinner, "What is she doing here?" She turned to Punk who smiled.

"I called her when I left the house. Thought you might wanna see her." Punk shrugged as Thea smiled, running over to Sam who stood up.

"Oh, hi gorgeous." Sam smiled, giving her granddaughter a hug as Punk walked on over.

"Hey." Thea smiled, hugging her tightly as Punk smiled.

He didn't quite know why, but he knew Thea had always gotten along with his mother, ever since she was young, even when she'd sneak behind his back to see her.

"Phillip." Sam nodded.

"Mother." Punk said casually, sitting down at the table with Thea.

"Baby I'm sorry that I've not been seeing you as much." Sam said as Thea looked across at her, "I just figured you were busy with college and… this new boyfriend and you got a job too." She said.

"Doesn't mean I can't make time to see you." Thea shook her head.

"I know that." Sam smiled, "You know I'm always a call away. Always." She said as Thea smiled and nodded.

"Do you want a drink?" Punk asked Thea.

"Uh… yeah, just a soda." Thea nodded.

"Ok." Punk stood up, walking on over to the ordering counter.

"You ok?" Sam asked as Thea looked across at her, "It can be scary, you know. After. When you realise that you could have lost it all." She said as Thea nodded, "But you didn't." Sam reminded her, "You still got this."

"You think so?" Thea questioned.

"I know so." Sam smiled.

* * *

AJ woke up when she realised Punk wasn't in bed anymore. She immediately got confused but then saw the text message he'd sent her, explaining that he'd had an argument with Thea and was sorting it out. She was a little concerned, but she knew he would make it right.

She headed downstairs to get herself a glass of water, pausing when she noticed the living room lamp was on, as well as the TV. She wandered on into the living room, looking over at Jude who was lying up on the sofa with a blanket, watching a late night talk show.

"Hey, babe. What are you doing?" AJ asked tiredly, her tired eyes screwing up at the light coming from the lamp.

"I can't sleep." Jude shrugged as AJ walked over, sitting down on the end of the couch.

"You ok?" AJ sighed.

"Yeah." Jude said.

"Your dad told me about… about that boy you were seeing." AJ said, "I know to you it feels like the worst thing on earth but it's… it's not worth your time or energy." She shook her head as Jude sighed, looking over at the TV.

"It's embarrassing." Jude said, playing with the corner of her blanket.

"It absolutely is not embarrassing." AJ made clear, "You don't ever let anyone pressure you or force you into… anything you don't wanna do. You did the right thing." She nodded as Jude groaned, "Unfortunately, we aren't running low on boys. There will be others." She assured her.

"We hadn't even gone on a second date yet." Jude rolled her eyes, "Is that what kind of vibe I gave off?"

"No, of course not." AJ shook her head, "It was nothing you did and don't you think that." She made clear, "Sometimes people just like to chance their luck."

"Yeah, obviously." Jude shook her head.

"It's not affecting you at school, is it? No one is saying anything to you? Nothing mean?" AJ wanted to make sure.

"No, everyone is fine. In fact, most of them are on my side." Jude nodded.

"Well good." AJ nodded, feeling at ease to hear that, "Times have changed. You don't have to sit in silence about things like this anymore. You had every right to… stop whatever he was planning to do."

"He wasn't mean about it. He stopped and he spoke to me for a little while but then he dumped me via text straight after." Jude said, "And one of his friends told me that he heard him saying it was because I… didn't put out." She said as AJ shook her head.

"Just… ignore him." AJ nodded, "In a couple weeks, you won't even be thinking about it. And someone will come along who is much sweeter. Believe me." She said as Jude sighed, her eyes going teary, "Hey." AJ sighed.

"I did really like him." Jude admitted, drying her tears.

"Come here, baby." AJ shook her head as Jude sat up, hugging into her mother as AJ sat back on the couch with her, playing with Jude's hair, "I know it's a horrible feeling." She nodded.

It wasn't quite tantrums and tears over bedtime and toys anymore. But that didn't make the comfort any different. No matter what age her girls were and what was causing them stress and tears, she was always there to listen.

"It'll get better." AJ hummed softly, playing with Jude's hair as she rested into her, hugging the blanket, "I promise." She kissed her head whilst Jude hugged into her tightly.

She could always measure her daughter's sadness from how tight the hugs were. This was a tight hug.


	98. Not The Worse Thing

**Not The Worse Thing**

* * *

"_Phil. Come on. You can't sleep here tonight." Tim, a diner owner nudged seventeen year old Punk who was asleep in a booth. _

"_Huh?" Punk grumbled, opening his eyes, looking up at Tim, noticing the diner was empty with no one else in it, "This is twenty-four hour, Tim." Punk shook his head._

"_You haven't bought anything from me." Tim said, "This isn't a hostel."_

"_I know it isn't." Punk grumbled, looking out through the window where it was lashing with rain, cooking up a storm, "We got nowhere else to go." Punk looked back at Tim._

"_Between the three of you? There's no place you can go stay for the night? Not a friend or someone?" Tim asked, looking on at AJ and Dean who were sleeping on the other side. AJ was using Dean's shoulder as a pillow._

"_No." Punk shook his head, "You think we're falling asleep here out of choice?" Punk questioned as Tim sighed._

"_Buddy I can't let you sleep here. I just can't." Tim said, "What about your parents?"_

"_I don't have a dad and my mom has her junkie friends at the house. A lot of them." Punk said, "April doesn't even have a place to sleep in her own house. And it's just as dangerous." He said._

"_Does your school know that… that this is your situation?" Tim asked._

"_All three of us got expelled." Punk looked at him as Tim sighed._

"_Aren't there homes or youth hostels you can go to?" Tim questioned._

"_They're either all overrun or they cost money." Punk shrugged as Tim nodded._

"_No other family members? No other friends?" Tim asked._

"_Look, do you think we'd wanna be falling asleep here? In a diner? If we had someplace to actually go, we would." Punk shook his head, "Nowhere else is opened."_

"_The older you get, this will become a problem." Tim said._

"_As if I don't know that." Punk nodded to himself._

"_Are they dating?" Tim asked, looking at Dean and AJ._

"_No. I'm with her." Punk said as Tim nodded._

"_You looking after her? These streets can be scary." Tim nodded._

"_I probably know more about these streets than you." Punk said truthfully, "Yeah, we keep her safe." He nodded, looking over at AJ._

"_Good." Tim nodded, "I hate doing this but I do have to ask you to go."_

"_What if we helped you clean up?" Punk asked him._

"_I have cleaners, Phil-"_

"_Anything. We'll do dishes or… we'll scrub the floors. Toilets… anything." Punk shook his head, "One night. Cash in hand. Just so we can get a motel for the night." He said as Tim sighed to himself, "Please." Punk nodded. He spared no embarrassment for begging at this point._

"_Ok just… one night." Tim nodded, "Kitchen could do with a clean down." He said as Punk nodded._

"_Sure." Punk nodded, "Hey!" Punk kicked Dean's foot under the table as he jumped, which caused AJ to wake up suddenly. _

"_What?" Dean grumbled._

"_Tim is gonna give us some cash if we clean down the kitchen." Punk told them as Dean and AJ looked up._

"_Just a little something to get you in a motel for the night." Tim made clear._

"_Well go on, April. Get to work." Dean nodded to AJ teasingly as she yanked his ear._

"_Shut up." AJ scoffed as Punk smiled to himself. _

"_You can start with the dishes." Tim nodded to them, "Kitchen is through there." He pointed as Dean nodded, sliding out of the booth as did Punk and AJ, "And please don't steal anything." Tim joked light heartedly as Punk paused, turning around slowly as AJ and Dean noticed._

"_Phil." Dean shook his head._

"_Don't steal anything?" Punk questioned as AJ looked over._

"_It was… it was just a joke." Tim shrugged as Punk looked at him._

"_No, you just assumed that that's what type of people we are." Punk said, "Why? Because we were dealt a hard hand? Because the people who are supposed to be raising us couldn't give a damn?" Punk questioned, "And what am I gonna steal from a fucking kitchen? A spoon?" Punk shook his head, "Your joke sucked and so do you." He nodded, pushing by him._

"_Phil. Come on, let's just get it done." Dean nodded._

"_No, he's right." AJ agreed, "As if this isn't embarrassing enough." She shook her head, "I'm not gonna stand here and be labelled. And I sure as hell don't need you to do me any favours." She shook her head, walking by him and over to Punk who was waiting at the door._

"_Whatever." Dean shook his head, walking by Tim too, leaving the diner with AJ and Punk._

"_Here." Punk took his sweater off, wrapping it around AJ to give her more protection from the storm brewing outside. It was only getting rainier and windier._

"_What now?" Dean shook his head, "We could have gotten some cash out of that." He said angrily._

"_You heard what he thinks of us." Punk said, "We're just gonna have to find someplace else."_

"_Phil, there's nowhere opened." AJ sighed._

"_Then someone make a suggestion." Punk looked at both of them. They were already drenched in the rain, freezing cold. _

"_Wave down cars." Dean shrugged._

"_Are you kidding?" AJ looked at him._

"_Then you park your ass on the sidewalk and sleep out here." Dean nodded to her, "Believe it or not, there are good people out there."_

"_The good people are tucked up at home in bed right now." AJ spat._

"_Do you got a better idea?" Dean asked her as AJ folded her arms and sighed, "No, didn't think so." Dean nodded._

"_No one is gonna stop." Punk shook his head._

"_April get your tits out." Dean nodded as Punk punched him in the crotch as he doubled over in pain, "Dude!" _

"_Deserved that and you know it." Punk shook his head as AJ folded her arms._

"_You didn't have to go for the dick, though." Dean groaned as AJ shook her head._

"_We don't have time for this." AJ said, "Just start waving down cars." She shook her head, standing back._

_She watched as they tried to wave down some cars. Everyone appeared to drive right on by, and she didn't blame them. She wasn't sure that she would stop for anyone on the side of the road._

_But finally, a car slowed down and drew up by the sidewalk, rolling down the window as Punk and Dean leaned in._

"_Hey." Punk looked at the older guy, "Hey, we… we need a place to crash tonight. Could you spare us some money or… give us a place to say?" He asked, "We're just a few kids." Punk nodded. Of course he had to put on a sad face and play up to the guy._

_AJ walked over curiously, looking in the car window as she watched the man look at her._

"_I'll give the girl a place to stay." The guy nodded with a smirk as AJ rolled her eyes._

_Punk attempted to jump through the car window, but Dean grabbed him back._

"_Yeah, just you drive along, pal!" Dean yelled._

"_You fucking pervert." Punk spat as the guy rolled his window up and sped away quickly._

"_Well it's very clear that we're not getting anything from anyone." AJ shook her head as Punk began to pace, getting angrier and angrier, "We're just gonna have to stay awake until morning, until more places open again." She shrugged to them as Dean sighed to himself and nodded._

"_What if we go back and check on mom's house? Maybe those people will be gone-"_

"_You know fine well they won't." Punk shook his head, "Let's just take a walk." He shook his head as AJ looked over at him._

"_We'll find somewhere in the morning." AJ nodded, walking over to him as he nodded, running his hand over his wet hair as she leaned up and kissed him whilst Dean put his hands on his hips and shook his head._

"_Alright, you two stay here and do that." Dean shook his head, "I need to find me some shelter." He groaned, walking on ahead whilst Punk stayed kissing AJ, wrapping his arms around her waist as she backed up against the wall and deepened the kiss, her arms wrapping around him for protection from everything._

* * *

"Thanks, Tim." Punk nodded, sitting down some money at the counter in the diner as the older man nodded.

"Is that you off?" Tim asked as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, we're heading home." Punk said, "Just… keep the change." He said as Tim smiled pleasantly and nodded.

Punk walked away from the counter, over to where Thea and Sam were getting up to go.

"I think I'm gonna go to Dominic's. I need to talk to him." Thea nodded.

After getting to spend some time chatting to Sam and her dad, she'd definitely calmed down. Sometimes just hearing a different voice helped, and once she'd taken a minute to take herself out of the situation, she realised how unfair it was to punish the people around her for looking out for her.

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea." Punk said as Thea nodded.

"Ok. Thank you." Thea nodded to Sam, giving her a hug as Sam smiled and rubbed her granddaughter's back sweetly.

"I'm always here." Sam promised as Thea nodded and smiled, pulling back from the hug and turning to Punk, hugging into him as he smiled.

He hugged her back, kissing her head and watching as she left the diner to go to Dominic's. He then turned back to his mother who was putting her coat on.

"Thank you for coming. She listens to you." Punk nodded.

"That's ok." Sam said, "I'm always here to help." She nodded, "How are… how are things with you and April?"

"They're good. Yeah, they're really good." Punk said, "Feels like we're actually getting back on track. Properly." Punk nodded.

"Are you living at the house again?" Sam asked.

"No, but I stay a lot." Punk said as Sam nodded, "Taking it slow but… it's sort of hard to take it slow with your wife." He said as Sam chuckled a little.

"Yeah I can see how that might be strange." Sam said, "I'm happy it's working out for you." She nodded.

"Thank you." Punk nodded to her as she smiled, rubbing his arm softly before walking on out of the diner.

There never would be a relationship there, but he could be civil and appreciate the fact his mother did mean a great deal to his daughter's, in her own eccentric ways.

* * *

Thea had gone off down the street, making her way to Dominic's house and knocking on the door as she waited for an answer. She felt in her right to have been mad at the way the letters had been kept from her, but she also knew the intent wasn't anything but love and concern. Once she'd calmed down, once she'd blocked the letter's contents out, she could understand that.

Dominic opened up the door eventually, looking across at Thea who stood on the bottom step.

"Hey." Thea said quietly as Dominic nodded.

"You ok?" Dominic asked her.

"Can I come in?" Thea asked as Dominic nodded, letting her into the house of course as he closed the door behind him.

"Look, Thea I-"

"No, let me…" Thea nodded, "I shouldn't have gotten so mad earlier." She said, "I uh… I do this thing were one little thing, no matter how minor it is, if it feels like it's going wrong then I push it away and I… I don't become the nicest person." She nodded, "That's not an addict thing that's just me." She shrugged.

"I know that. I've… been spending a lot of time with you." He reminded her.

"Right." Thea nodded, "Well I just… I still think you and my dad should have told me about those letters, I did have a right to know." She said, "But after I calmed down, after I almost had a drink I-"

"Wait what?" Dominic shook his head, "You were drinking?"

"Almost." Thea said, "Those letters did not have nice thing in them. And I also have this issue where I believe a lot of things people tell me. Especially the bad. It's weird how that works, right? We believe the horrible things people say to us but the nice things we… we can't seem to understand." She shook her head.

"You should have called me." Dominic sighed, "You were gonna drink?"

"Yeah, but I didn't. I mean… thanks to my dad threatening every bar in the city not to serve me." Thea rolled her eyes, "But still… I think it was just the habit coming out. Something sucked and I wanted a drink." She shrugged.

"I'm sorry." Dominic sighed.

"No, that's me. That's my decisions." Thea nodded, "I just want to apologise for how I acted and stormed out. I guess I'm just not used to someone caring this much about my feelings." She said as Dominic looked across at her.

"That was the only reason I did it." Dominic nodded, "I knew what was in those letters. And you've had a tough time with this guy. You don't need it to keep following you around. So yeah, I hid them from you. Your dad did too but… it's only because we care."

"And I can't be mad at that." Thea shook her head, "I'm sorry." She pouted, wrapping her arms around him as he smiled.

"I am too." He nodded, wrapping his arms around her waist as she smiled, suddenly gasping, "What?" He shook his head.

"So we just had our first fight." She realised as Dominic chuckled a little, "And we made up on the same night." She said, "I'm impressed."

"I think that's a good sign." Dominic nodded as she smiled.

"Also… should I be concerned that you and my dad actually… get along with each other?" She wondered.

"I don't think that's such a bad thing." Dominic said as Thea smiled.

"I guess it's not." She nodded, leaning up and kissing him sweetly as he kissed back.


	99. Always

**Always**

* * *

"Hey." Punk said tiredly, surprised to find AJ in the living room with Jude when he got home. Jude was fast asleep on the couch whilst AJ sat beside, enjoying a coffee and watching the quiet TV.

"Hey." AJ nodded to him, "Where were you?" She shook her head.

"I was just… talking to Thea. She was upset about the letters and she'd had a fight with Dominic." Punk explained, "But... everything is ok." He assured her. He wasn't going to tell her about Thea wanting to get a drink. If Thea wanted her mother to know, he would let her tell her.

"Is she ok?" AJ asked.

"Yeah, she's ok." Punk nodded, "Is she ok?" He looked over at Jude.

"She was upset." AJ nodded, "I think she liked this boy more than she was letting onto." She said as Punk nodded, "But she'll be ok." AJ said with confidence.

"I miss the days when they'd cry over toys and vegetables." Punk said, tiredly running his hand over his hair and sitting down next to her as she smiled.

"Yeah, me too." AJ smiled sweetly to him, "I just hate that they have to start dealing with lame growing up problems." She shook her head.

"Yeah, me too." Punk nodded, "Tears over boys just seems like such a waste." He shook his head, looking over at Jude and sighing.

"I don't think anyone wants to waste tears over that." AJ said, "But it happens." She shrugged, "You're saying that to the wrong person."

"Yeah, we're not stranger to heartbreak." Punk agreed as she nodded.

"Definitely not." AJ nodded, "Did Thea go to Dominic's?"

"Yeah, she went to talk to him, fix things hopefully." Punk said.

"You like him." AJ noticed, nudging him with a chuckle.

"I wouldn't… I wouldn't say I liked him." Punk shrugged modestly as AJ laughed.

"You totally do." AJ nodded, "I do too. He's sweet." She nodded to herself.

"I think I'm just a good judge of character." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"You are." She agreed, "You know, sometimes I think… maybe I could have stopped Jackson from making his way into Thea's life. I should have. After what he did to you." She nodded, "I know that's not what you wanted but-"

"You're right. It's not." Punk agreed, "I think years from now, this will be something that Thea looks back on and remembers that she came out on the other end. And maybe she will be… married and… whatever." He mumbled as AJ smiled.

"Maybe." AJ nodded along.

"My point is… it's how you learn and grow, right? Look at us."

"Yeah, there's a lot there." AJ laughed a little as he nodded, "So I uh… I've been thinking-"

"Shit." Punk mumbled.

"Hey." She nudged him as he smiled.

"What have you been thinking?" He asked her.

"I think you should move in." She nodded as he turned to her, "I mean you're here every night anyway. And it's nice to have you around more. I know Cassie would love it and... so would Jude." She turned to Jude who was asleep on the couch, "And I'd love it too." She turned back to him as he smiled, "But… it's entirely up to you."

"Of course I'd love to move back in." Punk nodded as she smiled.

"Yeah?" AJ nodded as he nodded back.

"Mhm." He smiled, cupping her cheek, leaning forward and kissing her softly as she kissed back.

* * *

"_Which one is she?" Dean asked, standing next to Punk, looking through the glass window at a ton of babies in basinets, "Wait, can I guess?" He asked Punk who chuckled._

"_Go on." Punk nodded curiously as Dean looked around._

"_That one." Dean pointed, "Second row. Third from the left." He explained as Punk looked over, looking a little harder._

"_That's a boy." Punk turned to Dean who looked back._

"_Whatever. They all look the damn same." Dean shook his head._

"_Front row. Second to the left." Punk smiled to himself, gazing over at his daughter as Dean looked over._

"_Oh, yeah." Dean tilted his head, "Shit, how'd I not see how much she looks like April." He shook his head as Punk smiled, "Speaking of… how is she?" He asked._

"_She's good. She's healthy." Punk nodded, "She's fast asleep."_

"_This was your first birth. How was it?" Dean asked as Punk nodded to himself._

"_Amazing." Punk shook his head, "I mean it was over way quicker than I thought, but still…" He nodded to himself, "Standing in a room full of women, watching that go down… we're useless." He concluded as Dean chuckled and nodded._

"_We are." Dean nodded, "Did you cry?" He asked._

"_Yeah." Punk nodded, "Like a damn baby." He said as Dean smiled to himself and nodded, "I can't believe she's here." He smiled, looking over at his daughter in the nursery. He couldn't stop staring at her. She was so beautiful, in every way imaginable. _

"_You told Thea?" Dean asked._

"_I called her and told her it was a girl." Punk nodded, "Once I see April and make sure she's good for the night, I'll go pick her up and bring her in to see her." He said as Dean nodded. _

"_You got a name?" Dean asked._

"_Yeah, we do." Punk nodded, "Jude Brooks." He said as Dean nodded to himself._

"_Jude?" Dean smiled as Punk nodded, "Like… hey, Jude." Dean teased as Punk nodded to himself._

"_Yeah, I told April that I would end up singing that song all the time. Poor kid is gonna hate me for it." Punk said as Dean smiled._

"_No, it's super cute. I like it." Dean nodded, "Little Jude." He smiled to himself as Punk nodded._

"_Yeah, me and April fell in love with it when we came across it." Punk said._

"_Mr Brooks." A nurse approached him as Punk turned around, "We're gonna bring Jude back into the room with April if you want to go back in." She said._

"_She's awake?" Punk asked._

"_Yeah. Just woke up there." The nurse said, "She wants to try feeding her."_

"_Ok." Punk nodded, "Ok, I'll head back to the room." Punk smiled as the nurse nodded, walking into the nursery to get baby Jude._

"_I'll take off and let you guys have some time on your own." Dean nodded, "And hey, I can bring Thea in later, saves you going back to get her."_

"_Yeah, that'd be a good idea actually." Punk nodded._

"_Sure thing." Dean said as Punk nodded, "And hey, congratulations, again." He smiled, hugging his brother as Punk smiled, hugging him back._

"_Thanks, man." Punk smiled, embracing his brother before he left the hospital._

_Once Dean left, Punk headed back into AJ's room, smiling as he saw her sitting up, bright as a daisy, looking fit enough to go run a marathon._

"_Hey, you." Punk smiled._

"_Hey." AJ said, "They're bringing her in. I'm gonna try feeding her."_

"_I know, I spoke to the nurse outside." Punk nodded as AJ smiled._

"_How long have you been standing out there looking at her?" AJ asked._

"_Oh, as long as you've been sleep. Couple hours." Punk nodded as AJ smiled to herself, "Can't help it." He shrugged as AJ nodded. _

_Although this wasn't their first child together, it was the first time they'd gone through this process together. It was very different when she had Thea. The whole atmosphere was different. Being able to bring their daughter into the world with him right beside her was something so special and beautiful. To see him holding her minutes after she was born, sharing this moment together as a family, it was just perfect, and they were both on cloud nine. A tired cloud nine of course._

"_I'm scared in case I can't feed her." AJ said._

"_Hey, you can only try." He nodded, walking over to her, brushing his hand over her hair, "It's one of those things that might take a few try's, right?"_

"_Yeah, going by what I've read." AJ nodded, "Probably won't happen on the first time." She said, "I don't think my boobs are that good."_

"_I strongly disagree." He nodded as she nudged him and chuckled. _

"_I have a delivery." The nurse walked into the room, holding baby Jude wrapped up as AJ and Punk turned around, "Ready to give this a go?" She asked as AJ nodded._

"_I think so." AJ nodded, slowly sitting up as Punk helped her get comfortable, "It's not gonna happen first try, right?" AJ asked, taking Jude from the nurse into her arms, looking down at her and smiling._

"_Sometimes it happens, other times it takes a few more go's at it." The nurse nodded whilst Punk stood back, letting her help AJ get ready._

"_This feels so weird." AJ shook her head as Punk walked over, sitting on the edge of the bed beside her._

"_I'll leave you to it. Don't be disheartened if she doesn't catch on right away." The nurse said as AJ nodded._

"_Thank you." AJ smiled as the nurse nodded, walking out of the room to give them some privacy as Punk sat up beside AJ on the bed._

"_Nothing happening?" Punk asked. _

"_No, not yet." AJ shook her head, looking down at Jude, "She's so perfect." She whispered._

"_Her hair is funny." Punk smiled, looking on at the fuzzy dark hair Jude had, which was almost spiked up, "You think Thea will take to her?"_

"_Of course she will. She'll not show it but… she's gonna love her." AJ nodded to herself as Punk smiled, "Can't wait to take her home." She nodded as Punk smiled._

_Everything in their life was so peaceful, it had been for so long. They were growing every day, as parents, as individuals, as workers. To take another healthy and happy baby home, to welcome into the family, was a wonderful feeling._

"_You cried." AJ smiled, looking up at him as he nodded._

"_Hell yeah, I did." Punk nodded, "One of the best days of my life." He said._

_He could say that with his whole chest and mean it. It was a day he'd never forget._

"_Mine too." AJ smiled, raising her eyebrows suddenly as she felt something going on below, "Oh…" AJ paused, looking down, "Oh my God, she's doing it." AJ said with surprise as Punk looked over, raising his eyebrows at yet another incredible sight he was witnessing today._

"_Oh, yeah." Punk said in awe._

"_I do have good boobs." AJ cheered as Punk chuckled loudly, "This is so cool." She shook her head, looking down at Jude as Punk smiled._

_She looked up at Punk, noticing he was just looking on at her, watching her with those loving eyes he saved only for her._

"_I love you." Punk nodded quietly as she smiled._

"_I love you." AJ nodded, "Always." She smiled as he nodded, leaning down and kissing her softly as she kissed back. _

_It was a perfect day, a special day, and all that mattered was this._


	100. Home

**Home**

* * *

"Why are you not ready yet?" Punk walked into Cassie's bedroom.

"I hate all these clothes!" Cassie said dramatically, ripping out some t-shirts from her dresser and throwing them behind her.

"What's wrong with this?" Punk picked up a t-shirt with cookie monster on it, "I like this t-shirt."

"I don't. I'm too old for cookie monster, dad." Cassie explained.

"I still like cookie monster." Punk laughed, "Ok, well… how about this? It's just a plain tee?" He picked up another t-shirt from the floor.

"I don't wanna be plain Jane." Cassie rolled her eyes as Punk nodded slowly.

"Well who do you wanna be?" Punk chuckled.

"I wanna be Cassie who wears nice t-shirts." Cassie explained as Punk chuckled to himself and nodded. She was definitely her own little unique person, that was for sure.

"You got tons of nice clothes, babe." Punk nodded as Cassie huffed, "How about you do these overalls with the plain t-shirt underneath?" He asked as she looked over, still sitting in her pyjamas with messy bed hair.

"And what shoes?" Cassie questioned.

"White converse. They're downstairs." Punk said, "Is that stylish enough for you?" He questioned as Cassie stood up, laying out her denim overalls on the bed with the t-shirt.

"I guess." Cassie nodded, "What about my hair?"

"Well mom is in the shower so when she comes out you get her to fix it." Punk nodded, "But start getting ready just now because you're… slow." He shook his head.

"Be gone." Cassie pushed him to the door as Punk chuckled, walking out of the bedroom and standing outside Jude's, knocking on the door.

"You up?" Punk called through the door.

"Yes." Jude came out of the bathroom as Punk turned around.

"Ok, good. What do you want for breakfast?" Punk asked her.

"I'm not that hungry." Jude shook her head.

"Well you gotta eat something." Punk said fatherly, watching as Thea came out of her room, her hair over her face as she groaned at the sudden light in the hallway, "Jesus, that's a scary sight." Punk nodded.

Thea just stuck her middle finger up at him and headed into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

"I'm seriously not hungry." Jude told him.

"Well I seriously know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day." Punk said.

"No way. Dinner is." Jude scoffed.

"Nope. Breakfast. Trust me." Punk nodded, heading downstairs and into the kitchen.

He had been moved back into the house for a month, and it just felt right again to be in the home he bought with his wife years ago. The house they planned to raise their children in and grow old together in.

It meant he wasn't missing anything anymore, and it also meant he could help AJ out. Even though the girls were older, running the house was still just as difficult, and he was glad he could help. They were becoming a team again and it felt just right.

* * *

"A vacation?" Dean shook his head, sitting on their lunch break with Punk at work later on.

"Yeah." Punk shrugged, "We were talking about it last night. We could rent one of those cabins or something. It'd be fun." Punk nodded.

"Why do you want me and Renee there, though? Don't you wanna have that time on your own?" Dean questioned.

"No, we thought it'd be nice to have everyone there." Punk said, "Thea is gonna invite Dominic. I'm even considering talking to mom-"

"You're gonna invite mom?" Dean questioned.

"Yeah, I know that me and you will never… there's never gonna be that relationship. Too much happened, too much was lost." He said, "But… for some reason, my kids love her." He scoffed, "And I can't be mad about that."

"So you and April wanna go on vacation with everyone, and expect it not to end in chaos?" Dean wondered as Punk chuckled.

"It won't." Punk laughed, "Look, I just think that we've all had a tough time. We've all went through our own stuff and it'd be nice to go have fun and do something as a family again." He said as Dean nodded.

"Yeah, of course." Dean nodded, "It does sound fun. I'm sure Renee and the kids will be up for it. Any vacation and Renee is there." He said as Punk smiled.

"I've never been on vacation with Cassie." Punk shrugged as Dean looked at him.

"Hey, that's what I mean. Don't you wanna do something special on your own first?" Dean asked.

"No, this is special." Punk shrugged, "When you're in prison for eight years and you got a lot of time to think… a lot." He emphasised, "You start planning things and imagining things." He said.

"And this was something you planned?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I thought it'd be nice. I was kicking myself we hadn't done it before, when the kids were younger." He admitted, "But I don't gotta imagine shit anymore, I can actually do it now." He said as Dean nodded.

"I'll talk to Renee. She'll definitely be down for it." Dean smiled as Punk nodded.

"I am sick of these boats!" Thea exclaimed, walking over to them as Punk noticed she had a rope tied to her ankle which she was dragging along with her.

"Don't you start your placement soon?" Dean asked.

"Yes. Next week. Thank God." Thea shook her head, trying to shake the rope off as Punk chuckled.

"You wanna check the pier out? It's almost finished." Punk said, standing up from the box he was sitting on.

"Sure." Thea nodded, still trying to get the rope off her foot as Dean shook his head.

"You're the most uncoordinated person I know." Dean nodded as Thea shook her head, angrily ripping the rope off and throwing it into the water as Dean raised his eyebrows.

"Stupid fucking rope." Thea spat.

"Did the April Mendez just jump straight out?" Dean questioned as Punk chuckled.

"Come on." Punk nodded to Thea who followed him down the docks to the pier they were working on.

"Oh, wow." Thea nodded, impressed, "It's bigger than I thought."

"Talks are they're gonna make a restaurant here." Punk nodded to her, walking up the steps.

"That'd bring in a ton of money." Thea assumed as Punk nodded.

"Hell yeah it would. With a view like this." He nodded, looking out at the water as Thea looked on.

"I'm nervous." She admitted as Punk turned to her.

"About what?" He asked.

"Starting this new placement." She said, folding her arms, "What if I'm really bad at it?" She sighed worriedly.

"Hey, you won't. You've been studying this stuff for three years now. And you're gonna learn as you go along. It's the same with any job." He said, "Look at this job. You started off horribly, let's face it." He said as she looked at him, "Now you know how to do things you didn't before." He said as she nodded.

"I just got caught up in a rope." She reminded him.

"Exactly. You're not always gonna be perfect, but you'll learn." He nodded as she looked at him.

"What if they find out about… you know…" She nodded.

"They won't and if they do, it's none of their damn business." Punk said, "You just focus on you and everything that you're being taught, and you'll be fine." He nodded as she took a deep breath and nodded.

"This is such a far cry from where I was at the beginning of the year." She shook her head, "I was drunk every night. In a relationship with the devil." She said, "I hated your guts." She nodded.

"Sometimes I get the feeling you still do." Punk admitted as she turned to him.

"I don't hate you." She assured him, "Never did." She said as Punk nodded, "I'm glad you're here and I'm glad you're back home with us." She nodded, "If not me and my sisters, then for mom… because she's really happy right now and…" She took a deep breath, "She done a lot for me. I just wanna see her happy." She nodded.

"Yeah, me too." Punk smiled.

* * *

Later that night, Punk was coming from Cassie's room after saying goodnight to her. Another thing he now was blessed with doing every night. He was coming from the room when he saw Jude coming from the bathroom.

"Hey, kid." Punk smiled, "You good?" He asked her as she nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Jude smiled as he nodded.

"You wanna go see a movie tomorrow night?" Punk asked her, "That new horror one looks good. I can't convince your mom because she doesn't really care for horror movies."

"Sure, I'd love to." Jude smiled as Punk nodded.

"Alright, snacks on me." He smiled, wrapping his arm around her and kissing her head as she smiled.

"Goodnight." She smiled.

"Goodnight, sweetheart." Punk said, watching as she walked into her room before heading downstairs and into the living room.

"I did something bad." AJ nodded, sitting with an opened bar of chocolate. A twenty-four piece bar of chocolate. Punk chuckled to himself, "You gotta take this away from me." She groaned as Punk chuckled, collapsing down on the couch beside her.

"Jesus, have you ate half?" He turned to her.

"Don't." She covered her hands over her ears as Punk chuckled and nudged her.

"Well that means I get to finish the other half." Punk said as she smiled.

"Cassie in bed?" AJ asked him, placing her hand on his leg.

"Yeah, out like a light." Punk nodded, "I'm gonna go to the movies tomorrow with Jude. I know you're working late and Cass is staying with a friend, right?"

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "Jude will like that. Let me guess, the latest horror film?"

"Obviously." Punk nodded as she smiled, "I'm sure Thea will be at Dominic's, like she is every night." He shook his head as AJ chuckled.

"Don't be a baby." AJ said.

"Told me she was nervous today, about starting her placement." Punk said, "Worried about if she'll be terrible at it." He said.

"It's a big thing but she's got this. She's smart." AJ said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, I told her it's all about the learning, right?" He said as AJ nodded.

"Of course it is." AJ nodded, "She opens up to you a lot more these days." AJ noticed.

"You think?" Punk asked, breaking off some more chocolate and giving her some.

"Oh, yeah. Given where we were months ago… she's opening up." AJ nodded.

"I talked to Dean about the vacation. He said he'll talk to Renee about it." Punk said as AJ smiled and nodded.

"I just think we could all do with a break." AJ said, "Me and you The girls. Everyone." AJ nodded.

"Yeah, I agree." Punk nodded, "I think me and you do need a break on our own, though." He hinted as AJ smiled and nodded.

"I agree." AJ smiled to him.

"It's a lot harder to bone around here with these grown ass kids walking around." He shook his head as AJ chuckled and nodded.

"It is." She smiled, turning to him. It was still quite unbelievable getting used to the fact he was here, and they were sharing chocolate on the sofa at the end of a long day. It was the most peace she'd ever felt in a long, long time.

"I'm gonna end up eating all of this." Punk scoffed, sitting the chocolate over as AJ leaned up and kissed his cheek as he turned to her, laughing a little, "Hi." Punk laughed.

"Hi." AJ smiled, sitting up and straddling herself over him as he raised his eyebrows.

"You don't wanna watch Antique Roadshow?" Punk asked, looking over at the TV teasingly as she shook her head.

"Not tonight." She shook her head, leaning down and kissing him as he placed his hands on her waists and pulled her tight. Everything was just falling into place.


	101. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

* * *

_6 Years Later…_

"What a load of garbage." Punk scoffed tiredly, standing up from the couch and stretching after sitting watching the sports highlights he'd missed from the game earlier. Of course his favourite teams were doing horribly.

He turned the TV off and began to turn the lights off in the living room when he heard a car pulling up outside. He looked at the time, which was gone past midnight, and was curious as to who was pulling up at this time.

He listened to the knock at the door not long after, a light knock, as he made his way out of the living room and into the hallway, unlocking the door and opening it where he saw twenty-eight year old Thea standing, a baby carrier over her arm as she looked at him with a small smile.

"Hey, dad." She said quietly.

"Hey." Punk smiled, "Are you ok?" He asked as she walked into the house.

"Yeah… well no." She changed her mind as Punk closed the door behind her, "Me and Dominic had a fight." She shrugged, "I've not woke anyone up, have I?" She wondered.

"No, no your mom is in bed. Cass too." Punk nodded.

"I would have gone to Jude's place but… she's in New York this weekend so…" Thea shrugged.

"Hey, you're always welcomed here." Punk teased as she smiled, "Go through to the kitchen, I'll make you a drink." He placed his hand on her shoulder as she nodded, walking on through to the kitchen.

"I won't stay long. I think me and James will just go to a hotel." Thea nodded, walking into the kitchen.

"So this was a big fight?" Punk gathered, watching as Thea sat the carrier on the table, managing to get a glimpse of his sleeping grandson, which of course brought a smile to his face and joy in his heart.

"Yeah, it was." Thea nodded, sitting down at the table, looking on at James, fixing his little hat on him whilst Punk made them coffee.

"What were you fighting about?" Punk asked her.

"A lot of stuff." Thea nodded, "You know when you have a small fight and then other things get brought up?"

"Yeah, I can recall." Punk nodded, sitting down a coffee for her, taking a seat across from her, "So what's the things?"

"Well he wants to move house." Thea said, "He said we can afford it and I know we can but… I'd rather wait a little while. Save some more. Wait until James is a little bigger. I mean he's two months old." She shook her head as Punk nodded.

"Can't you both come to a compromise then?" Punk asked her.

"Well that's what I was trying to say to him. If we could just wait. Wait until I'm back at work. And then we started talking about our jobs." She rolled her eyes as Punk nodded.

"One of those fights, huh?" Punk nodded to himself, "What's wrong with your jobs?"

"Well… he's been working seven days a week for the longest time. He took one week off when James was born. That was it." Thea said, "And he works really long hours. He's not home until like 9pm. And this little guy isn't easy to take care of." She pointed as Punk looked on at James and smiled.

"He's an angel." Punk smiled, turning to Thea who was rubbing her forehead tiredly, "Sounds to me like you're just a little stressed." He nodded, "Having a baby is a big thing, it affects everything." He said.

"Yeah, I didn't realise that until he was here." Thea admitted as Punk nodded.

"I think it sounds like you're both just tired, stepping on each other's toes a little, nit picking at little things that you can resolve very quickly." He nodded.

"I thought that but then he just kept saying that he was fed up of this. He kept repeating it and I just lost it." Thea said, "I said if he's so fed up then me and James will just leave. And he… he let me." She shook her head as Punk nodded.

"I think you both just need to cool off a little." Punk said, "And no, you're not going to a hotel. There's a bed upstairs you can sleep in, and we have a crib for James too." He said as Thea nodded.

"I didn't think it'd be this hard." Thea shook her head, "Everything has changed." She nodded.

"Yeah, but… it should be good change." Punk nodded, "I think you're both tired and if he's working seven days a week, long hours, he'll be exhausted-"

"I tried to tell him that but he said it's important we keep saving money, especially since I'm off work just now." She shook her head, "And then he wants to move house too as if we're not stressed enough-"

"Why does he wanna move house anyway?" Punk asked.

"Oh, I don't know." Thea rolled her eyes, "He just says the house we're in is falling apart. It's beginning to cost more money to repair things, so we'd be better off just moving." She nodded.

"Well those conversations can't be had on little to no sleep. Otherwise, of course you'll step on each other's toes." Punk said as she nodded.

"Yeah, I know." Thea agreed, noticing two month old James begin to stir, opening his little eyes as she looked on, "What is it, little guy?" She frowned, "He just doesn't sleep." She told her father who nodded.

At this time in her life, she was seeking a ton of advice from her parents. A ton.

"He'll get into a routine eventually." Punk assured her.

"He probably wants fed." Thea nodded.

"I'll get him. You make his bottle up." Punk said, standing up and taking James out of the carrier whilst Thea got up to fix his bottle up.

It was very strange being a grandparent so young, but it worked out pretty well as he and AJ were fit and healthy to be there for their grandson, and spend time with him, and also help their daughter with this huge change in her life. Punk was extremely won over by little James. He wasn't sure if it was because he'd been surrounded by girls for the longest time, and to have a little fella in the family was nice.

"How come you were awake anyway?" Thea asked whilst Punk held James in his arms in a cradling position, smiling down at him.

"Uh… I was watching the sports highlights." Punk said.

"I wouldn't have bothered." Thea scoffed, "I watched the game earlier. It's disgusting how bad we are this season." She shook her head as Punk nodded in agreement.

"We got time." Punk nodded with hope, "Don't we, little guy?" Punk smiled, looking down at James.

"Ok, here." Thea screwed the bottle on tight, testing it first before handing it over to Punk, "I'll get wipes out because he will obviously spit up." She nodded, digging into her bag for wipes whilst Punk fed him.

"Thea." Punk said.

"Mhm?" Thea looked up from her bag.

"You're doing good." Punk assured her, "I know it's not easy. Everything changes. It's no longer just about you and that can be scary." He nodded.

"I have no idea how you and mom did this at nineteen." Thea shook her head.

"It was challenging." Punk nodded, "But everything somehow worked itself out. With a little bit of patience and understanding."

"I think I gotta work on that." Thea admitted.

"And so does Dominic." Punk made clear as she nodded, "But you'll work it out." He nodded.

"Yeah." Thea nodded, "I probably shouldn't have left." She said, "But I just… I didn't wanna fight anymore and I just automatically showed up here." She shook her head, "Still feels like home." She looked around as Punk smiled.

"I think that's a good thing." Punk nodded.

She'd been moved out for several years. Married for three. Working as a doctor for four. She wasn't a child anymore and she wasn't even a young adult. She was right there, in the prime of adulthood. And she was doing it way better than he ever did.

Of course it was daunting and scary that his first born child was now an adult. Completely out on her own. With her own family and her own responsibilities. But somehow she always found herself coming back home now and then.

"When is Jude home?" Thea asked, "I miss her." She huffed as Punk smiled.

"I'm picking her up from the airport tomorrow morning." He nodded.

As Jude got older, she and Thea had gotten a lot closer. They'd always been close, but it was no longer so much a childish bond, more so coffee dates and sister dinners.

"Oh, I hope she had fun. She was looking forward to it." Thea nodded.

"Yeah, she called last night and said it's been great." Punk nodded, "I'm sure we'll get to hear all about it."

"Oh, of course." Thea smiled, looking over at James who was feeding well for Punk, "He's doing that deliberately." Thea scoffed.

"Doing what?" Punk chuckled.

"Being good for you." Thea nodded.

"He's always good for me." Punk nodded as Thea smiled tiredly, "Hey, you go upstairs and get to bed. I will sort this little guy out."

"Oh, no… I can do it, it's ok." Thea assured him.

"I got it." Punk nodded, "You go. Get some sleep." He said as Thea nodded, looking at James.

"Y-Yeah, ok." Thea nodded, standing up, "You're sure?"

"I'm sure." Punk smiled, "On you go." He nodded to her.

"Thank you." She smiled gratefully as he nodded, watching her as she left the kitchen.

The dumbest thing she ever thought in her life, was that she only needed her dad when she was growing up. The truth was, she'd never needed him more these past few years, and he was there, every time.

"Yeah, you're always good for your papa." Punk smiled cockily as he looked down at his grandson with pride.

* * *

"Hey!" Jude exclaimed, meeting her father outside the airport.

"Hey." Punk smiled, so glad to see her, "How was your flight?" He asked, embracing her tightly, leaving a kiss on her cheek.

"It was good." Jude nodded, "Thank you for picking me up. Cabs are a nightmare here." Jude shook her head.

"It's no problem." Punk shook his head, "Hop in." He told her, picking her suitcase up and putting it in the trunk whilst she got into the car.

He closed the trunk over and got back in behind the wheel, "So how did it go? You have fun?" He asked her.

"It was amazing." Jude nodded, "Just so happens there was an exhibition going on at Brooklyn Museum so we managed to get into that one too." Jude said, "It was so incredible, I took so many pictures but there was tons of stuff I wasn't allowed to take pictures of."

"I can't wait to see them." Punk smiled, "Did you gather enough stuff for your folio?" He asked, pulling out of the airport to head home.

"Yeah, I think so. I got to speak to a lot of cool people there." Jude nodded excitedly as Punk smiled. Any time his daughters were doing cool things, for themselves and the things they loved, he was over the moon.

Jude was studying at the art institute and was excelling with a lot of her work, getting to travel here and there as a plus. She'd moved out a year ago to live in an apartment with one of her friends. Of course to see another one of his children leave home was heart-breaking, but he was excited for Jude and whatever journey she was going on.

"When are you back at the institute?" Punk asked the twenty-one-year old.

"Monday. So I gotta really get everything together this weekend." Jude nodded.

"Am I dropping you at your place or are you coming home first?" Punk asked her. It would always be home.

"I wanna see mom so just take me back with you." Jude said as Punk nodded.

He eventually got home, parking the car up and getting out.

"You go on, I'll get your bag." Punk said as Jude nodded, running off to the front door, opening it up and heading inside.

"Hey." Jude smiled, appearing in the kitchen where her mom and sisters were.

"Oh, hi baby." AJ smiled happily, getting up and embracing her daughter tightly as Jude smiled, "How was your trip? Did you have fun?" AJ asked.

"I had so much fun." Jude nodded, taking her cap off and sitting it over, "Hey, you." She smiled, giving fourteen year old Cassie a hug from behind as Cassie scoffed, "Miss me?" Jude teased as Cassie just chuckled.

"I did." Thea nodded as Jude smiled, leaning over and giving her older sister a hug, "I'm glad you had fun." She said as Jude smiled.

"I missed my favourite little guy." Jude smiled, tucking her hair behind her ears as she looked on at James who was in Thea's arms sleeping, "How has he been?" She asked her sister.

"He's been good." Thea nodded, "Still never sleeping, though."

"He'll get into a routine soon." AJ assured her as Thea just scoffed, "Did you take lots of pictures?" She asked Jude.

"Oh, tons." Jude nodded as Punk came into the kitchen, sitting his car keys down.

Jude spent the next hour or so showing her family all the cool stuff she got up to whilst on her trip. It was hard not to be excited for her when she radiated so much energy when talking about the things she loved.

Punk excused himself from the kitchen however when he heard a knock at the door, walking down the hall and opening up the door where he saw Dominic standing.

"Hey." Dominic nodded to Punk, bowing his head a little in shame as Punk looked across at him.

"Hey." Punk replied, "You here to see me?" He joked vaguely.

"Thea and James here?" Dominic asked as Punk nodded.

"Yeah." Punk said as Dominic nodded.

"She… told you everything didn't she?" Dominic assumed as Punk nodded, "Look, I'm sorry, I… I never meant to hurt her or-"

"Hey, don't apologise to me. You two gotta talk. None of my business." Punk said as Dominic nodded, "I'll go get her." He said as Dominic nodded, walking into the house and closing the door behind him as Punk walked through to the kitchen.

"Who is it?" AJ asked curiously.

"Dominic." Punk looked over at Thea who rolled her eyes, "I think you should go talk to him." He suggested as Thea nodded.

"Yeah, ok." Thea said, "Can someone take him?" She asked.

"Me, I will." Jude said, "I've missed my cuddles." She frowned, taking James from Thea and smiling as she looked down at him whilst Thea left the kitchen.

"So you'd go back to New York?" Punk asked Jude who nodded.

"Definitely. We're already planning another trip." Jude said as AJ smiled.

"I'm so glad you have fun, sweetheart." AJ smiled as Jude nodded.

"Cassie I brought you back a present. Go into my bag over there." Jude pointed as Cassie got up and checked the bag, pulling out a new soccer strip.

"Hey, thanks." Cassie smiled, looking on at the strip, "I love the colours."

"I thought you would." Jude smiled.

Cassie was still a soccer player for her school team, and also got to travel around with her team for competitions. It'd given AJ and Punk a few vacations here and there too which they weren't complaining about.

"I can wear it at training tonight." Cassie nodded as Jude smiled, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Jude said, looking down at James, "And I got you a little gift too." She said, stroking his little cheek.

"What'd you get him?" AJ smiled.

I got him this little plaid shirt and jeans. It literally made me cry." Jude shook her head as AJ smiled, "I also got him Halloween outfit but don't tell Thea, she won't let me put it on him."

"What is it?" Punk asked curiously.

"It's a little dragon outfit. So cute." Jude nodded as AJ shook her head with a smile. She definitely embraced the definition of fun aunt.

Punk looked out of the kitchen door curiously to see what was going on with Dominic and Thea, glad to see them hugging, smiling to himself and nodded.

AJ also noticed, looking over to Punk and nodding to him as he smiled.

Thea and Dominic eventually came back into the kitchen, in an embrace as Thea turned to Punk, noticing him winking at her as she smiled.

"Hey, Jude." Dominic nodded.

"Oh, hi." Jude smiled.

"How was New York?" He asked.

"Amazing." Jude nodded, "I actually gotta get home and start doing some work now." She laughed a little.

"We can drop you off." Thea nodded to Jude.

"That'd be great." Jude said.

"I'll get him into the car." Dominic nodded, taking James from Jude, saying goodbye to everyone, getting a stern but confident look from Punk as he left the kitchen.

"Ok, I'll probably be around tomorrow for breakfast or something." Jude nodded, hugging her mother tightly.

"Ok, sweetheart." AJ smiled, enjoying the tight embrace.

"So leave me some pancakes." Jude said, pinching Cassie's neck playfully as Cassie chuckled.

"Tell dad." Cassie said.

"Hey, you." Punk said as Cassie shrugged.

"I thought dad was on a diet?" Jude looked over at Punk who folded his arms.

"I caught him eating a cupcake over the sink two nights ago." AJ said as Punk rolled his eyes.

"Yeah and then you joined me to finish it." Punk reminded her as AJ just smiled to herself.

"Everything in moderation." Jude teased, hugging her father who just smiled and kissed her head, all the while Thea said goodbye to her littlest sister and mother.

"Thanks for letting me stay." Thea smiled to AJ who nodded.

"Hey, anytime." AJ said, "You've got this in the bag." She assured her as Thea smiled. No matter the age, her mother had always been there, right by her side through any sort of obstacle. She'd never, ever forget that.

"Thank you for letting me rant to you." Thea nodded to Punk whilst Jude was getting her bags together.

"Hey, it's what I'm here for." Punk smiled, hugging her tightly and kissing her head, "Little bit of patience." He reminded her as she nodded.

"Yeah." Thea agreed with a smile, "Ok, let's go." Thea nodded to Jude, wrapping her arm around her sister, "Tell me about all the fun stuff you got up to that you can't tell mom or dad." Thea smirked, walking down the hall.

"I can still hear that." Punk called, looking on at them both walking out of the door chuckling to themselves, smiling to himself and shaking his head.

"I'm gonna go try this on." Cassie said excitedly, taking her strip as Punk smiled, messing with the top of her head as she left the kitchen.

"I'm so glad she had fun." AJ smiled, standing up and fixing the table and chairs as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, me too." Punk nodded, "I thought this place would get quieter once they were both gone but I think it's gotten louder." He admitted.

"Would you have it any other way?" She smiled across at him as he shook his head, looking over at her.

She was still the most perfect, amazing human being ever to him. They'd been to hell and back, pushed through so many tough times. Lost so much. And never had he seen her in any other light other than his best friend, his soul mate and the love of his life. To do all of this, have a family, it was all amazing. But to do it with her, that was something special.

"I wouldn't." Punk shook his head, walking over to her, "Wouldn't change one single thing." He shook his head, wrapping his arms around her waist as she smiled up at him.

Going through what they had, from being homeless together sleeping in diners, to having this grown, happy family, and everything in between, it was an unbelievable bond that couldn't compare to anything else in life.

"There's another cupcake over there." AJ reminded him.

"Stop." Punk shook his head.

"We can half it." She shrugged.

"Stop teasing me." He said, messing around with her in the kitchen, grabbing her around the waist and spinning her around as she chuckled, feeling him kiss her cheek from behind as she smiled.

Nothing compared to what they had. Nothing at all.

* * *

**A/N: That's a wrap on this one guys! I enjoyed writing this so much, and if you'd like a sequel let me know. I grew super attached to all the characters lol. Thanks as always for supporting and taking the time to review. I'm sure I'll be back soon with something soon. Perhaps a sequel? Or something new? Let me know.**


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